This Old Town
by Shiny Jewel
Summary: FNL favorites reunite 5 years post show finale in Dillon. Primarily Eric/Tami, Matt/Julie but will include Buddy & Lyla Garrity, Landry Clarke, Tim Riggins, Smash Williams, Jason Street and more.
1. Chapter 1

_**This Old Town**_

**Author Note: This first chapter is absurdly long, but I felt it was necessary to set things up. Thanks for reading!  
**

**Chapter 1**

Tami stood at the kitchen counter sipping her morning coffee. She downed the first cup immediately upon emerging from the bedroom and was already on her second. Things at work had been nightmarish over the past couple of weeks with the start of the school year approaching. She was working late nights dealing with last minute admissions emergencies and a new, well-meaning but extremely incompetent assistant while trying to pay sufficient attention to her husband and keep up with a spunky and rambunctious eight year old.

Since Eric was teaching summer school and she was working, they enrolled Gracie in a day camp to keep her occupied. It cost a small fortune but it was worth every penny. Thankfully Eric had taken pity on her this morning and agreed to be in charge of the daunting task of getting their daughter ready for the day. Gracie was really adamant about picking out her own clothes these days, and while they tried to encourage her independence, there were times when as parents they needed to draw the line, like when she wanted to wear a fringed purple bathing suit with her ballet tutu and cowboy boots.

"And what do we say when we want to advance the ball?" Eric asked Gracie as he carried her down the hallway into the kitchen.

"Go for two!" she shouted. Her hair was in two pigtails, which impressively Eric managed to construct himself from time to time. Sure they were usually kind of crooked but presentable enough.

Tami laughed at the exchange between father and daughter and let out a sigh of relief when she noticed Gracie's acceptable for public consumption outfit of a pink t-shirt, a pair of khaki shorts and sandals.

Eric plunked Gracie down on the kitchen counter and kissed his wife, wrapping his arms around her.

"You're really trying to train this one to take an early interest in football aren't you?" She smiled as she poured some coffee into a mug and handed it to him.

He accepted it and took a sip. "Well clearly I failed with Jules, so I figure I've got one more chance."

Eric put down his mug and grabbed his Pioneers cap off the kitchen counter and stuck it on his head. "I'm going to be a little late tonight," he said.

Tami looked up from packing Gracie's backpack and groaned.

"Hon, I was going to try to come home early tonight so we could spend some time together, remember? I even got some good wine."

She held up an expensive looking bottle of Pinot Noir.

"You got red?" he asked, smiling.

She nodded. "Just for you. And now I'm going to have to drink it all by myself."

He grabbed the bottle out of her hand and studied it for a minute.

"I'll tell you what," he said leaning in close, his voice dropping to a whisper, "I'm gonna come home and we're gonna drink this wine and then we're gonna…."

Eric stopped talking and kissed her neck.

"EWWWWWWWWWWW!" Gracie shrieked.

[****]

Matt tore through the front doors of the emergency room. He had been in the middle of the floor at the gallery with some important international collectors when he got the call from the hospital that his four month pregnant wife had passed out at a client meeting across town. When his phone started vibrating, he had discreetly slipped it out of his pocket to make sure it wasn't Julie. When he didn't recognize the number, his gut told him to excuse himself to answer it.

"I got a call from the hospital," Matt said breathlessly, sliding up to the reception desk. "About my wife." He put his hand on the front desk to steady himself.

A bored looking receptionist peered up at him not seeming to have pity on his obviously frazzled state.

"What's your wife's name?" she asked in a monotone voice.

"Julie Saracen." Matt wiped the perspiration on his forehead with the back of his hand.

The receptionist tapped on the computer with her inappropriately long nails for a moment before directing him to the correct floor. When he rushed into the room and saw Julie sitting calmly on the hospital bed, relief washed over him.

He knelt down next to her. "Jules, what happened?"

"This is why I didn't want them to call you," she sighed reaching out to wipe his sweaty forehead with her hand. "Look at you, you're all worked up. It's not a big deal, I'm fine."

Matt looked at her in disbelief. "It's not a big deal? You're pregnant, you passed out, and you're at the hospital. To me, that seems like a pretty big deal."

Julie slid her hand down the wrap dress she was wearing to rest it on her belly. "Look Matt, I'm fine, the baby is fine. You really need to calm down. You look like **YOU'RE** going to pass out."

Matt took a deep breath and willed himself not to explode. "What happened?" he asked in as calm of a tone as he could muster.

"I had a meeting. I was waiting in the reception area and when I got up I just got really lightheaded. I blacked out for a few seconds, I woke up and I was on the floor. Everyone was really nice. They gave me juice and cookies and made sure I came straight to the hospital. They monitored the baby, gave me some fluids, they told me to wait for the doctor."

She tapped the IV, still hooked up to her arm. "That's it. I just feel terrible that you had to walk out of that important work thing you had going on today."

Matt couldn't fathom how she was being so casual. Just as he was about to continue grilling her with questions, the ER doctor joined them in the room.

"Hi Mrs. Saracen, I'm Dr. Harris," he said greeting her with a smile. She introduced him to Matt and the men shook hands.

Dr. Harris looked down at his chart, made a note and then took a seat on a rolling stool at the foot of the bed.

"The good news is everything with the baby looks just fine. As long as you're feeling okay, we can release you to go home, but I would really recommend you taking it easy for at least the next two to three days to be safe." He paused and looked at Julie. "From what I can tell, you passed out because you were dehydrated, so you need to make sure you have plenty of fluids and eat regular meals. Be conscious of it. I know you probably get busy during the day but you need to make it priority to take care of yourself so this doesn't happen again."

[****]

Julie and Matt rode home in complete silence. When they arrived back at their condo, Matt unlocked the door, tossed his house keys on the kitchen counter and looked at his wife.

"Jesus, Julie. Dehydrated? Did you even bother to drink or eat anything while you were running around today?"

Julie walked past him and plopped down on the couch. She slid her flats off and put her feet up on the coffee table. "Matt, I really don't need a lecture from you about how to structure my meals," she muttered testily.

Matt sat down next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. He was totally unnerved and her flippant attitude about the whole thing baffled him. However, he knew if he was going to try and talk some sense into her he would have to try a softer more soothing approach.

"Julie, I'm not trying to tell you when or how to do anything, but I think it's my right as your husband and the father of the child you're carrying to be concerned after something like this happens, and frankly I'm a little surprised that you're just being so nonchalant about the whole thing." He rubbed his temple and leaned back against the couch. "Pregnant or not you should be taking care of yourself, but it's not just about you anymore."

The second the words came out of his mouth he knew it was a mistake.

"Excuse me?" She jerked his hand off her shoulder in one angry fluid motion. "Are you trying to imply I'm being reckless on purpose? You have a lot of nerve to judge me," Julie said, her voice beginning to shake.

Matt tried desperately to backpedal. "No…I…Julie. That's not what I meant…I…."

"Guess what? You're not the one who practically slept on the bathroom floor for a month and a half from being so sick. You're not the one who is going to get huge and have to worry that your body will never be the same. You're not the one who is going to have to juggle a both a career and a family you love and worry that you'll never be able to give a hundred percent to either."

Julie stormed into the bedroom and slammed the door. He heard her crying and debated for a minute whether he should go in there or just leave her alone for a little while. Before he could make his decision Julie reemerged from the bedroom holding a pillow and a blanket, which she tossed in his direction on the couch, her blonde hair flowing out behind her. "Enjoy the couch!" she sobbed, turning on her heel, returning to the bedroom once again and slamming the door behind her.

Matt was stunned. The pregnancy had been hard on her in the beginning and he knew the hormones couldn't be helping, but he had no idea she was so freaked out. He felt terrible that Julie hadn't shared her concerns or fears with him, and that he was doing the last thing he should have been doing in her current condition, stressing her out with his judgments. Unlike him, Julie had always been physically incapable of hiding her emotions, so the fact that she was keeping this all to herself was even more alarming.

Matt put his head in his hands and sat motionless for a good half hour until he got up and softly knocked on the bedroom door. "Jules, can I come in?" He paused and waited for her response for a second.

Matt took her silence as permission to enter and gently cracked the door open. The bed looked empty but he saw the lump underneath their down comforter. He kicked off his shoes and crawled under the sheets, pulling her into his arms. She didn't resist his touch, so Matt put his lips to Julie's head and kissed it.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said those things. I was just worried about you," he said quietly into her ear.

Julie pulled back slightly from his embrace and he felt even guiltier when he saw her face streaked with tears. "I'm sorry too," she said looking up at him and sniffling. "I need to stop thinking I can just live my life like nothing is different. I'm going to be a terrible mother. I don't even know why you want to have a baby with me." She started to cry again.

"Hey," he said, tipping her chin up so she was looking at him. "That's ridiculous. You're going to be amazing. In fact, you have way more experience with babies than I do. Hell, you spent the first few years of Gracie's life helping your parents take care of her. I'm lucky if I can figure out how to change a diaper."

Julie laughed a little and wiped a stray tear from her face. "Oh please. You're good at pretty much anything you do."

Matt reached over to the nightstand to grab a tissue out of the box. "I know it's scary not to know how something so huge is going to impact your life, but we're in this together okay?" He handed her the tissue and she blew her nose into it. "And if you're scared or upset or concerned, I want you to talk to me about it. I might not be able to fix it but I just want to be there for you, okay?"

Julie nodded. "I'm sorry I flipped out," she said with a yawn and snuggled against him. "I don't really want you to sleep on the couch tonight."

[****]

Coach Eric Taylor stood in the dim light of his office drawing up plays on a huge dry erase board. It was after hours but the Pioneers were playing a particularly tough opponent for their opening game so he figured he'd get a jump on strategizing. The team had come a long way since he started coaching them. They made at least the first round of the playoffs almost every season, and last year had come within one game of State. They had a solid team and he was doing everything in his power to make sure this year would be their year. Even though his job didn't depend on winning every single game, his pride kept him plenty motivated. A state championship would also make him more marketable, as he had begun to think that maybe, just maybe, he would possibly be interested in trying again at the college level if the right opportunity presented itself. He hadn't mentioned it to Tami, but she was voicing some frustrations at work and it was definitely possible she might be ready for a change also.

The phone on his desk started ringing, which startled him since nobody ever really called him on his office line, especially not after school hours. Tami did once in a blue moon, but that was usually only if she couldn't reach him on his cell phone.

Eric grabbed the phone off its cradle. "Coach Eric Taylor."

Buddy Garrity's voice boomed through the phone. "Coach Eric Taylor indeed."

There was a time that a call from Buddy would put the fear of God or annoyance in Eric (sometimes both at the same time) but now that he had no more affiliation with the Panthers or Texas high school football in general, he was actually able to appreciate Buddy and all his quirks.

"What can I do you for, Buddy?"

"I can't just call to see how my old friend Coach Taylor is doing?" Buddy asked with a hint of teasing in his voice.

Eric chuckled into the phone. "Sure you can. What's goin' on?"

"How's Tami? The kids?"

"Tami's good. Gracie is a handful. Julie's doing well in Chicago. She and Matt are expecting a little one in a couple of months."

"How bout' that," Buddy drawled. "Grandpa, huh? Little QB on the way."

"We'll see about that," Eric said. "Don't know if it's a boy or girl yet. How are yours doin'?"

There was a pause and the faint sound of gulping. Eric could just picture Buddy in his sad bachelor apartment, on his old recliner, in his sweats, drinking scotch.

"They're good. Lyla is in law school. Making her daddy proud. Tabby's in college. Was hoping she'd come back to Texas but she decided to stay in California with her mom and the fig growing wonder." Eric heard the gulping noise again. "Buddy Jr. has this genius idea that he wants to open up a combination strip club and car wash. Strippers washing the cars. Imagine that." Buddy let out a hearty laugh. "Entrepreneur. Man after my own heart."

Eric rolled his eyes and stifled a laugh. His eyes wandered to one of the framed pictures on his wall, a team photo the Lions had taken in the locker room right after the State game. Buddy was front and center of course. As much as he hated to admit it, he kind of missed that bastard.

"So, Coach. There actually was a reason I called."

Eric smirked. "I knew it," he said. "Buddy, I'm sorry the new coach won state last year and then took off to some fancy college job in Nebraska, but I am not coming back to Texas to coach the Panthers."

Buddy let out another loud belly laugh. "Eh, I've given up trying to get you to come back Eric. We're actually trying to steal the coach from West Cambria."

"So what do you need exactly Buddy?" Eric asked. He looked at the clock on the wall. It was 8pm and Tami was going to kill him.

"We were hoping you'd come down to Dillon and emcee this year's ring ceremony. Its ten years since you won with the 2006 Panthers. You know that?"

Eric sighed. "Buddy I have a team to coach here. I can't just skip town to relive the glory days."

"Our season starts two weeks before yours does. I'm sure someone can handle summer practices for the few days you'd be gone. No excuses." Eric tried to interject but Buddy kept going. "I was thinking you could bring some of your boys to present the rings. "

"My boys?"

"Yeah, you know, that son-in-law of yours, Smash, Street….I'll take care of Riggins."

"Buddy…." Eric protested.

"Talk to Tami. Think about it. It'd be great. Let me know." Eric heard the doorbell ring in the background. "Gotta go Eric! Pizza's here."


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

Eric crept in the front door holding his work bag in one hand and a bouquet of yellow tulips in the other. He knew Tami was going to be annoyed he was getting home later than he promised, so he hoped flowers would soften the blow and give him a fighting chance of having a little post-wine fun later. He was surprised, upon putting his belongings on the hall table, to hear the faint sound of Tami's laugh coming from the other end of the house.

He entered the kitchen to see Tami sitting at the table balancing the cordless phone in between her ear and shoulder and typing emphatically onto the keys of her open laptop. She was working and in sweats. Not a good sign, he thought.

"Oh I know!" Tami said, pausing from her typing to bring a half empty glass of wine to her lips. She sipped and continued talking. "He's not going to last. I'm calling it now, thirty days, maximum."

Eric figured she was likely talking to her friend Laura, one of the admissions associates in her department, someone who had become a good friend to Tami over the past couple of years. One thing he had noticed about moving to the East Coast from Texas was that it seemed to be a lot easier for Tami to forge legitimate friendships with other women. When he had mentioned it to her a year after they got to Philadelphia, she looked at him and simply said, "It's real easy when the entire town you live in doesn't either hate your guts or want to use you for their own devices."

Eric cleared his throat and Tami swiveled around in her chair and acknowledged his presence with a nod and a smile.

"One minute," she mouthed, pointing to the phone. He nodded, poured some of the red wine sitting out on the kitchen counter into a glass and wandered into the living room.

A few minutes later, Tami hung up the phone and joined him on the couch.

"Hey babe," she said, giving him a peck on the lips and settling back onto the cushions. "How was your day?"

Tami tossed the old throw blanket that had survived over twenty years of marriage, at least seven moves and two kids, over her legs. It was in decent condition, but no matter how ratty it ever got, she didn't think she'd ever have the heart to get rid of it.

"It was good. I got you something," Eric said with a proud grin. He plucked the tulips off the coffee table and presented them to her.

"Tulips?" she asked with a suspicious smirk, bringing them to her nose to smell them. "For little old me?"

His grin widened. "I'm sorry I'm late. Is Gracie sleeping?"

Tami placed the flowers back on the coffee table and nodded. "She was exhausted. We only read one book together tonight and she was out like a light."

Eric stared down into his wine glass for a minute. "So guess who I heard from tonight?"

She shifted on the couch and looked at him in anticipation.

"Buddy Garrity."

Tami groaned. "Oh honey, if you're trying to get me in the mood here you're failing miserably."

Eric rested his hand behind his head and laughed. "He had an interesting proposition. Well at first I didn't find it too interesting, but the more I think about it..."

"What is it babe?" Tami asked in a nervous tone, the one she used when she wanted him to cut to the chase.

"He wants me to come back and emcee the championship ring ceremony. For the Panthers."

"In Dillon?"

"No, in Australia. Of course in Dillon."

Tami rolled her eyes and smacked his arm playfully. "When?"

"It's in two weeks. You know, at first I thought it was a silly idea, we're so busy here, but maybe that's the point. Maybe spending the weekend there might not be such a bad thing. He wanted me to get some of the championship guys together, you know, Smash, Jason, Riggins, Matt." He paused. "And if Matt comes, we'd actually get to see our daughter."

Tami considered this and nodded slowly. They hadn't seen Julie since right before she found out she was pregnant and were planning a visit to Chicago for Thanksgiving, but that wasn't for another couple of months.

"I can't believe I'm saying this," she said, "I actually might be on board with this idea." She put up her hand. "Under the condition it involves me being able to see our daughter. What would we do with Gracie though? Would we bring her? Where would we stay?"

"Whoa. Slow down. We don't need to figure out the details right this second." Eric put a hand on her leg. "So, Should I assume sweatpants means we're going to straight to bed after we finish this wine?"

{***}

Matt stood in front of the stove in a white undershirt and boxers making Julie's favorite breakfast, scrambled egg whites and pancakes. Last night they had ordered takeout for dinner and spent the rest of the night watching TV and cuddling in bed. When Julie finally passed out, Matt sneaked away to call the gallery and tell them he wouldn't be coming in the next day. He knew she was going to give him a hard time about it but he didn't care.

"Good Morning," Julie said, as she walked out of the bedroom yawning and rubbing her eyes. She inhaled the delicious smells coming from the kitchen and felt grateful that the constant and horrible nausea that had plagued her for the first three and a half months of her pregnancy finally seemed to be subsiding.

She sat down at their small kitchen table and rested her chin on her hand. "Thanks for making breakfast. I'm just so glad to be able to smell food again without wanting to die."

Matt laughed and piled some pancakes on a plate. "I'm just so glad I can eat in front of you again without feeling horribly guilty."

Noticing Matt's boxer and t-shirt getup Julie asked, "Aren't you supposed to be getting ready for work?"

He turned off the flame on the stove and used the spatula to scrape the egg whites out of the skillet and on to a plate.

"I'm not going today," he said casually and put the plate down on the table in front of her.

Julie sighed. "Matt, that's crazy. You don't have to babysit me. I promise I'll take it easy today. I'm going to sit on the couch and watch bad reality TV all day. I'll be the laziest person that ever lived. I promise. I might even stay in my pajamas all day and not shower."

He bent down and kissed her on the forehead. "What? You don't want to spend the day hanging out with me?" He pouted. "I'm offended."

She chuckled and dug her fork into the eggs. "It's not that. You just don't get a lot of days off and I don't want you to waste them when you don't have to, especially with the baby on the way. There are going to be days when you're going actually really going to need to take the time off."

Matt served himself some breakfast and sat down at the table. "They know the situation and they're fine with it. It's one day. Don't worry about, okay?"

Julie knew she wasn't going to win this argument and the idea of sitting around doing nothing with Matt actually sounded kind of nice.

After breakfast they spent most of the morning cuddled up on the couch watching TV and drifting in and out of naps. Julie was pretty sure Matt hadn't slept very well last night judging by the way he was solidly passed out and lightly snoring. She grabbed the remote and flipped on the TV.

When Matt awoke from his slumber an hour later, Julie lay next to him, completely engrossed in an episode of Maury Povich.

"Are you seriously watching that?" he asked with a teasing smile, his voice still scratchy from sleep.

"This is crazy. This woman has come on the show eight times and she STILL doesn't know who the father is. How is that even possible?" Julie asked, not taking her eyes off the TV.

"Maybe ninth time is the charm," Matt offered, sitting up and shifting on the couch to rest his head on Julie's shoulder.

She reached her hand under his shirt and caressed the smooth skin. He shivered and reached for the back of her head pulling her in for a long kiss.

Julie broke away and put her lips to his ear. "Wanna fool around?" she asked.

Matt looked concerned. "Are you sure it's okay?" he asked. "I mean, with what happened yesterday…"

Julie laughed. "It's fine. In fact, I think it could be beneficial in the relaxation process and the doctor said I should relax..."

Before she could even finish her sentence Matt was picking her up and carrying her to the bedroom.

{***}

"So, you relaxed?" Matt asked with a lazy smile, rolling on to his side to face Julie.

She brought two of her fingers to his lips and he kissed them lightly.

"Very relaxed," she said with a contented sigh. "In fact, I could probably take another nap right now."

"Another nap?"

"I'm sleeping for two," she replied, her eyes dropping closed.

Matt laughed and rolled over so he was in a spooning position up against Julie's back. He wrapped his arms around her naked body and rested his hands on her stomach. Out of nowhere there was a very slight but undeniable thud against his palm, making them both jump.

Julie rolled around to face Matt, an unsure smile on her face. "Was that…..did you feel that?"

He nodded slowly, his lips curving upward into that irrepressible grin of his. "Um...I think so."

Matt put his hand back and not even a minute later, there it was again.

"That's crazy," he said, still grinning. It was one thing to know they were having a baby, but to actually feel the little person that they made, that would soon be theirs, it blew his mind.

"I guess it was meant to be that you insisted on staying home with me today," Julie said, tracing a line up and down his arm with her fingertip.

He brushed some hair out of her eyes. "Insisted huh? You seemed really broken up about it five minutes ago when you were..."

"Matt!" Julie squealed. She picked up a throw pillow and whacked him in the head with it. "You sure know how to ruin a precious moment," she said laughing.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3**_

Matt dragged the fine tipped brush across the bottom of the canvas, officially stamping it with his signature scrawl. Ironically, his handwriting had always been terrible, so the signature was something he worked hard to perfect since he began appearing in art shows and attempting to sell his work. He shifted on his stool and glanced around the room. Their condo had two bedrooms, one of which Matt had always used as his art studio. Julie rarely ever entered the room that she dubbed his "art cave" (Matt's version of a man cave) unless he specifically asked her to, partially out of respect for his creative space and partially because she was pretty sure the mess would give her a coronary. Soon they would be converting it to a nursery and temporarily relocating Matt's art supplies and art work to a section of the living room. There were a few three bedroom units in their building about to go on the market and they planned on selling their place in favor of one with some extra space, but that likely wouldn't be finalized until a few months after the baby was born.

He stood back and scrutinized his work. It was without a doubt the most abstract painting he had ever done, far out of his usual comfort zone when it came to his art. His favorite professor from art school (and a well-known artist in Chicago) had once quoted Jackson Pollack in a lecture and the words stuck with him. _**Every good painter, paints what he is**_. Matt wondered if the recent anticipation of changes in his life were influencing his viewpoint. Was it possible to portray brave and excited and terrified and unsure at the same time?

The sound of the ringing phone snapped Matt out of his daydream and he raced into the living room to try and locate the cordless receiver as to not disturb Julie who was taking yet another nap in the bedroom. He uncovered it under a pile of pillows and blankets on the couch and looked down at the caller ID display which read **Taylor, Eric.** He recognized the Texas area code so it was definitely his father-in-law calling from his cell phone and not his wife from the Taylor home in Philadelphia. That was strange in itself given the fact that out of Julie's parents, Mrs. Taylor was pretty much the only one who ever called them at home. Usually Coach would get on the phone to talk to his daughter, and even more rarely, Matt, but Eric Taylor almost never called directly himself. Even with three solid years of marriage to Julie under his belt, an up and coming career and a proven track record of being a responsible and generally upstanding human being, Matt still got slightly jittery at the thought of talking to his father-in-law without any sort of buffer such as Julie or Mrs. Taylor.

He clicked the talk button on the phone and brought it to his ear reluctantly. "Hey Coach. How's it going?"

"Oh…Hey Matt," Coach said, sounding surprised. "I wasn't expecting to get you. I figured you guys would both be at work and I'd just leave a message. Is everything okay?"

Matt looked at the clock on the cable box. 2:18pm. Damn. He lost track of time between the naps and the lovemaking and sneaking off to work in his studio and hadn't even realized it would seem odd for them both to be home on a random weekday in the middle of the day. Julie had begged him not to mention yesterday's incident to her parents and he begrudgingly agreed so now he needed to think fast.

"Uh…well…Julie had a doctor's appointment today so we both just left work early. She's actually taking a nap so I can let her know you called…"

Coach paused. "Actually, I called to talk to you."

Matt froze. That was even more rare. "Oh…okay. Is..is…everything alright?" he stuttered, picking at a splotch of dried paint on his shirt sleeve.

"What are you and Jules doing, two weekends from now?"

"I have to check but I don't think we have anything planned," Matt said cautiously.

"How would you like to come down to Dillon and be part of history son?"

A chuckle escaped from Matt's throat at the two words "Dillon" and "history" being used in the same sentence. "History?" he asked skeptically.

"They're having the ceremony for last years state championship team and they want me to emcee it, bring back some of my players to help hand out the rings. That means you Saracen. You know, being you were the quarterback of my championship team and all."

Matt raised his eyebrows. Since he left town, his grandmother had always been the only reason for him to ever return to Dillon, and with the way her health had declined over the past year in particular, he couldn't help but entertain the painful thought of how much longer he'd be making trips there.

"Anyway," Coach continued, "I'm trying to get some of the other guys down here, so it would be a reunion of sorts. Plus, I think it would be nice for us to have the chance to spend time together as a family."

Matt smirked into the phone. That line had Mrs. Tami Taylor written all over it.

{***}

Matt and Landry sat at a table at a random bar restaurant in the Chicago airport drinking beers and sharing a plate of nachos. Matt watched Landry reach for the one chip in the middle of the pile that was overflowing with oozing cheese, sour cream and guacamole.

Matt rolled his eyes and snorted. "Some things never change. You always reach for the best chip. It never fails. Most normal people would eat around it for a few minutes before going for it, but not you."

"I missed you too man," Landry said shoving the nacho into his mouth with a satisfied smirk. "If you have such a problem with it, get your own."

Matt grinned at his best friend and took a sip of his beer. "So how was Japan?"

After graduating from college, Landry decided on law school, but wanted to travel a bit before buckling down, so he signed on for a program that sent him to several different countries throughout Europe and Asia to teach English to high school kids. Japan had been his final stop before coming back to the states to start law school at UT. He was visiting his parents in Dillon for a few weeks before moving into his new place in Austin and made it a point to have a layover in Chicago so he could see his buddy.

"It was great. The ladies couldn't get enough. I got mistaken for Matt Damon all the time over there for some reason," Landry said nonchalantly.

Matt laughed so hard beer came shooting out of his mouth. "Matt Damon?" he choked out, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

Landry reached for another chip. "What? You can't see the resemblance?" he asked.

Matt shook his head, still laughing. "No way."

"So where's Julie? I thought she was meeting us here?" Landry asked, turning around to look behind him at the people bustling up and down the terminal walkway.

Matt glanced down at his cell phone. "She texted me not too long ago, saying she was leaving work, so she should be here any minute."

Since Landry had been out of the country, he had no idea about the pregnancy yet. Matt could have easily told him the news over email but when he found out they'd be seeing each other, he wanted the opportunity to tell him in person, or rather show him.

"There she is!" Landry said, spotting Julie's blonde head in the crowd and waving at her. As she got closer, he did a double take and his eyes widened. He twisted around in his chair to face Matt, a huge grin spreading across his face. "Hold on a minute," he said. "How did you not tell me this?

"We wanted to tell you in person," Matt said.

"I don't know what to say man." He paused and smiled, slapping a hand on Matt's back. "I'm so happy for you guys. And proud," he added.

Matt laughed and rose from his chair to greet his wife. "Thanks man."

Julie approached the table with a knowing smile and gave Landry a hug hello. "So the secret's out now," she said motioning down to her stomach. "Clearly there's no hiding this anymore."

Landry kissed her on the cheek. "What are you kidding? You look great. And that kid is going to be disturbingly attractive." He pointed at Matt. "For god sakes, this guy right here has the bone structure of Michelangelo's David." He reached over and pinched Matt's cheek only to be met with a sharp slap.

Julie chuckled. "I've missed you Landry."

They all sat down at the table and Landry flipped open the new edition of Chicago Mag sitting on the table next to him and studied the masthead.

"Julie Saracen, News and Features Writer. I read your article while I was waiting for Matt here. You've come a long way from bashing the high school football team."

Julie twisted the cap off her sparkling water and rolled her eyes. "Landry, I never bashed the high school football team. I just simply presented the facts."

Matt leaned back in his chair and put an arm around Julie. "Speaking of high school football teams, we're going to be in town next weekend, so we should all hang out."

"What are you going to be doing in Dillon?" Landry asked. "You hate going back there."

"They apparently asked Coach Taylor to host the championship ring ceremony and wanted a few of his players to help present the rings. We figured it would be fun to go, see the family and some friends. In a few months we won't be able to travel much, so this just seemed like a good opportunity." Matt said.

Landry scratched his head and smirked. "Well if they're looking for a devastatingly handsome football player who did a great job of warming the bench and just missed winning a championship twice to hand out any rings, you know where to find me."


	4. Chapter 4

Matt climbed into bed next to Julie who had already propped herself up against the headboard with several fluffy pillows and was typing away on her laptop.

"Do you realize there are like seven times more pillows in this bed than people?" he asked with a grin as he stretched out on the mattress, pushing extraneous pillows away in the process.

She smirked and kept typing.

Matt sat up so he was directly next to her and leaned over to kiss her neck. "Julie," he said, pointing to the computer, "I thought you weren't going to bring that thing in bed anymore."

"I'm almost done," she responded. "I have to make sure I get this to my editor before we leave for this weekend, and we have that doctor's appointment, so tomorrow is going to be crazy." Julie continued furiously moving her fingers on the keys, her brows arched in concentration. "Speaking of which, can we talk about whether we're going to find out or not?"

Tomorrow was the big doctor's appointment where they should be able to find out whether they were having a boy or a girl. Julie made it clear she wanted to know from the first day they found out she was pregnant, but Matt wasn't so sure. They had debated it back and forth for over the last couple of months but never managed to come to a resolution.

Julie saved her work and shut the laptop placing it on the floor next to the bed.

"What about the baby's room? Didn't you want to paint a mural on the wall?" Julie asked as Matt rolled on to his side and put his head on her shoulder. She shifted in bed and rested her hand on the top of his head.

"What about it? It doesn't necessarily have to be pink or blue. There's green…yellow…gray…orange…" Matt said, his eyes slowly closing.

Julie laughed. "Thanks Picasso. Obviously I know there are other colors than just pink or blue."

She worked her fingers through Matt's hair and sighed thoughtfully. "I just feel like I need to mentally prepare myself. Being a mother to a son and a daughter are two completely different things."

"Well we don't have experience with either so what's the difference?" he asked.

"The book says…"

Matt raised his head off her shoulder and raised his eyebrows. "What book?"

Julie grabbed a thick book off her nightstand titled _**Calm Motherhood: How to Manage Stress and Enjoy Your Pregnancy **_and began to read. "Here's the thing: it doesn't matter if you find out at 20 weeks or 40 weeks - it's still going to be a surprise. In pregnancy and childbirth there is very little, if anything, you can be truly in control over. The beauty of making this decision is that you aren't causing any harm to your unborn baby whether you find out their gender or not. That being said, the only reason not to find out earlier seems to be the act of surprise following the actual birth, whereas knowing the gender halfway through the pregnancy has many benefits….."

Matt grabbed the book out of Julie's hand and placed it on the nightstand on his side of the bed and then resumed his position. "If you ask me, the title of the book is kind of ironic because I think reading these things are putting crazy ideas in your head and making you more stressed out," he said.

"It's informative. It's making me consider both sides."

Matt rolled on to his stomach and propped himself up on his elbows. "Look, I think if you want to find out, if that makes you feel more relaxed, then I'm okay with it."

"Are you sure?"

He nodded. "It's clear you want to know, and you're the one who is doing most of the work here. Like you said, whether we find out now or when the baby is born, it's still a surprise."

"Actually it was the book you were just mocking a second ago that said that," Julie reminded him with a satisfied grin.

{***}

Eric sat calmly on his recliner sipping a beer and watching ESPN as Tami paced around the living room restlessly.

"You'd think she'd show up on time, just once," Tami rambled, bending down to straighten a stack of magazines on the coffee table she had already neatened thirty seconds earlier. "But no, it's against the Shelley code to ever do anything exactly the way anyone ever asks her to."

"Uh huh," Eric muttered, his eyes fixed on the television.

Tami flopped down on the couch for a moment, but quickly rose again to resume her pacing.

"I mean, I appreciate her watching Gracie on such short notice, but I wanted her to get here before Gracie's bedtime just to, you know, transition her into the mindset that we're going to be leaving for a while."

"Uh hmmmm." Eric shifted in his chair and brought the beer to his lips.

Tami stopped in front of the recliner and put her hands on her hips. She blocked her husband's view of the television screen.

"Honey, are you even listening to me?"

"Yeah…of course I'm listening," he mumbled, craning his neck and moving his body slightly to the right.

Tami huffed and snatched the remote off the coffee table. She switched off the TV.

"Babe!" he shouted, "what are you doing? I was just about to see the score of that game."

She shook her head in disbelief. "I'm standing here telling you I'm stressed out about my sister and leaving Gracie Belle and you're not even listening to me. You're just staring at the TV because I guess that's more interesting than your wife and her problems and concerns."

Eric sighed and pulled her down into his lap. "Relax. She'll be here." He leaned his head back as the recliner rocked back and forth. "If you were so worried about it, why didn't you just pick her up from the airport?"

"I offered, but she insisted that it would just be easier to take a cab." Tami settled against Eric's chest. "She probably met some loser on the plane and is getting drunk with him at the hotel bar as we speak."

Seconds later the sound of the ringing doorbell echoed throughout the house. Tami shot out of Eric's lap and started jumping up and down with a huge smile on her face. "She's here! She's here!" she shouted.

Eric shook his head as Tami ran off to answer the door. He lost count of how many times he had seen this exact scene play out over the course of their marriage, but it was definitely in the double digits.

Tami swung open the front door to reveal not only her sister, but a petite red headed woman standing next to her. Her eyes registered with confusion.

After hugging her sister hello, Shelley turned and motioned to the red head. "This is Jennifer. My life coach."


	5. Chapter 5

**_Chapter 5_**

Shelley grabbed Jennifer's arm and they strolled past Tami and into the living room where Eric was still sitting, reclined in his chair with his beer, the television back on.

"Don't get up and greet me or anything!" Shelley exclaimed sarcastically, tossing her duffel bag to the floor, directly under his feet.

Every time she visited, she always threw her bags down in front of him as if she expected them to be delivered to her room butler style. It drove him insane which was clearly her motivation for doing it in the first place.

He put the beer down on the end table, stood up and gave Shelley a kiss hello. He looked from her to Jennifer, back to her, back to Jennifer again.

"You uh...brought a friend?" he asked.

Shelley rolled her eyes. "Not just a friend. A life coach. Jennifer here is now in charge of helping me make all my decisions."

Jennifer extended her hand and Eric shook it limply, his expression a cross between shock and amusement as Tami joined them in the living room.

"It's so nice to meet you," Jennifer said. "Shelley has told me so much about you both." She gave a coy smile to Eric. "Especially you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Eric asked, looking directly at Shelley.

"Aunt Shelley's here!" Gracie shouted from the hallway, running into the living room in her pajamas. Shelley picked up her niece and twirled her around. "You ready to have some fun with your cool, young, sexy, hip Aunt Shelley?"

Jennifer interrupted Shelley. "Appropriateness," she reminded her.

Shelley nodded. "Right." She put Gracie down and tried again. "Um...ready to have some fun this weekend?"

Tami, despite being completely baffled by this situation, turned on the southern charm. "Well Jennifer," Tami said with a smile way too large to be genuine, "any friend of Shelley's is a friend of ours."

Eric snorted lightly and Tami elbowed him in the ribs.

"We only have one guest bedroom, but this couch pulls out into a queen size bed, so feel free to make yourself at home," Tami said. "Can I get y'all anything to eat?"

"That would be great," Shelley said, "I'm starving!"

"Alright then, y'all just get settled," Tami replied, a tight smile still on her face. She looked over at Eric. "Babe would you mind helping me in the kitchen?"

{***}

"What the hell is a life coach?" Eric muttered as Tami warmed up a plate of dinner leftovers in the microwave. "And why is she in our house?"

"I don't know hon, but I think maybe she mentioned something about it on the phone the last time we talked. I don't remember exactly. I think I had tuned her out at that point."

Eric lowered his voice to a whisper. "I don't want some strange woman we don't know imposing her strange cult on our eight year old daughter."

Tami rolled her eyes. "Eric, it's not a cult. It's just someone who is supposed to help you reflect on how you can make better choices in your life."

She removed the plate from the microwave and placed a piece of tinfoil over it. "Actually, I think this might be one of the smarter things she's ever done."

Eric leaned back against the kitchen counter. "How the hell does she even afford to pay a life coach?" he said, the words **life coach** rolling off his tongue as if he was in disbelief that he was even saying them. "She's a dog groomer for god sakes."

"Maybe that woman is a life coach trainee and she's doing this for free or something," Tami suggested, shoving the second plate of food into the microwave and setting the timer. "You know, she's also been teaching that Indian Bollywood dance class at the gym. Masala something..."

"Masala Bhangra," Shelley corrected as she came through the double doors of the kitchen. She hopped up on the counter and shot a look in Eric's direction. "You can stop mocking me now."

"Shel, we're not mocking you. In fact," Tami said looking at Eric sternly, "we think this is great. We just weren't expecting you to bring a guest this weekend, so we're just caught a little off guard is all," she explained.

"Before you leave tomorrow, Jennifer wants to sit down with all of us and do an assessment," Shelley said, grabbing the two plates of food and walking towards the dining room. "I need to make sure all my personal relationships are free of toxins."

"Toxins?" Eric muttered under his breath. "You've got to be kidding me." He narrowed his eyes and looked at Tami. "Next time we go anywhere, we're getting a babysitter. I don't care if it costs an entire paycheck."

{***}

Julie lay in bed racked with anxiety. This had become an unfortunate nightly routine of sorts. She would drift off to sleep easily enough, but would wake up at some point during the night for a trip to the bathroom or from crazy and vivid dreams that had recently begun to plague her as some sort of odd pregnancy symptom. Once she was awake, she couldn't help but sit up and worry, unable to shut off her mind.

Would her editor rip her newest piece to shreds? Was she going to be tough enough to give birth without drugs? Was the new "avant-garde" rug Matt talked her into buying for their bedroom actually hideously ugly?

She rubbed her thumb against the cotton sleeve of her t-shirt. It was one of Matt's faded old Panther football shirts and it had been washed so many times that the fabric was practically see through. She wore it to bed so often it basically didn't belong to him anymore.

They had been sprawled out in bed, post-lovemaking earlier that evening, when Matt had asked her to sleep naked with him.

"Come on," he begged, tightening his hold on her when she attempted to get up to put on some pajamas.

She laughed and said, "Do you know how many times a night I get up to pee? There's no way I'm risking having to pass a mirror and be reminded of my whale-like state."

He responded like he always did when she got insecure about her body, by kissing her, telling her she was beautiful and that he could look at her naked all day.

She had pulled on the t-shirt anyway.

Julie closed her eyes and tried to doze off but she couldn't stop thinking about their conversation from before. She wondered if he felt like she was pressuring him to just go along with what she wanted. Sure, she was the one physically carrying their child, but it was his kid too and she didn't want him to feel like his opinion was less important than hers. Julie didn't want him to resent her for basically making the decision for both of them.

Matt could be complicated, and it had been her goal ever since they got married to try harder in being aware of his needs, to be more sensitive. She was guilty of being a bit too caught up in her own head space sometimes, often taking Matt's silence or agree-ability at face value when it was clear he just didn't want to argue with her or upset her.

Matt was kind of an anomaly that way. He never seemed to have a problem when it came to stepping up and taking charge in important situations, just like he had on the team in high-school, with his art career, in standing up to her dad when it came to their relationship even though Coach Taylor terrified him. However, in intimate relationships, he often acted very much like a wounded little kid, afraid of what would happen if he tipped the scales. Matt was like an onion. Julie found that often she needed to peel several layers back, in order to draw out what was really going on in his head.

She had to talk to him about it or she was never going to get back to sleep, so she whispered Matt's name softly into the dark of their bedroom.

When he didn't respond, she wiggled out of his arms and rolled over to face him. She leaned down closer to his ear and tried again at a slightly louder volume.

This time, he rolled to his back and murmured something but his eyes remained closed.

Julie sighed and raised her voice to its normal level, nudging his arm a little for good measure.

"Matt!"

He shot up in bed with alarm. "Wha…wha..what's wrong? Are..are you okay?" he asked groggily, blinking his eyes at her.

Julie eased herself into a sitting position and leaned against the headboard.

"I'm fine. I just had a terrible thought."

"That if I get less than six hours of sleep I'm going to be really cranky tomorrow?" Matt mumbled, pressing his cheek back down against the pillow.

"No. I was just thinking about before. I feel like I'm pressuring you to find out and I really don't want to do that."

Matt squinted at her and shook his head. "That's why you woke me up Julie? You scared the crap out of me. It's fine. We'll find out. No problem." He reached up and squeezed her shoulder. "Come on. Let's go back to bed."

"I'm sorry. I was just up thinking about it and I couldn't sleep."

He beckoned to her and held his arms out. "Come here. I'll tickle your back."

Julie cuddled against his bare chest as he put his hand under her t-shirt and lightly raked his fingers up and down the skin of her back.

"I have an idea," she said. "I'm going to find out. But you don't have to."

Matt laughed. "How is that going to work?"

"I'll ask the ultrasound tech to write it on a piece of paper and show to me and I won't tell you. I'll keep it to myself."

"You really think you'll be able to keep a secret like that for another couple of months?" Matt asked skeptically.

She nodded and nuzzled his shoulder. "It'll be hard but for your sake, yes. There's no way I'll be able to keep it from my parents but aside from them, I'm not going to tell anyone else."

"Okay." Matt agreed. He kissed the top of her head. "I really appreciate you being so worried about my feelings, even if your worrying happens to be taking place at two in the morning."


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 6**_

"I really can't believe you're okay with us being interrogated our own home," Coach Taylor grumbled. He was sitting up in bed with a book face down in his lap.

Shortly after they arrived, he used work as an excuse to escape Shelley and her life coach and retreated to his small office off the master bedroom to watch game tape for the remainder of the evening until Tami had knocked on the door and let him know everyone had gone to sleep.

Tami climbed into the bed and got under the covers with a shiver. She peered at the thermostat on the wall which read 64 degrees and shook her head. Eric always insisted on keeping the house frigid despite years of astronomical electric bills.

"Hon, it's not an interrogation," she insisted with a hint of frustration in her voice. "Look, I know my sister drives you insane, but I really think she's trying to improve her life here and it's important that we encourage her. It's just a conversation, that's all. Do it for me, okay?"

Eric raised his hand to his head in exasperation and clutched a thick patch of dark hair. "Fine," he conceded. "But for the record, I'm really not comfortable leaving our daughter in this situation. I think we should bring her with us."

"Babe, you know that's not an option. We asked her to come all the way here. She got on a plane. She took time off work. She's doing us a big favor on short notice. We're not going to send her home now. I spent some time with Jennifer tonight and she seems perfectly normal. You know I would never put our daughter in a dangerous situation." Tami put a hand on his cheek. "As flighty as she can be, you know Shelley loves our girls and has always taken good care of them."

Eric couldn't argue with her there, but he was still plenty irritated about having to participate in a impromptu therapy session with his wacky sister-in-law and some random woman he had only known for four hours.

Tami sank down further under the blanket and pressed her body up against her husband's. "And to tell you the truth," she said, gliding a hand up his t-shirt, "I'm kind of looking forward to our alone time together. It's been a while."

They had taken a few family vacations with Julie when she was a kid, but hadn't gone away themselves since before she was born, up until about two years ago. Even that trip was just a quick weekend away to the Poconos. Matt and Julie had come down from Chicago to watch Gracie, and when Eric and Tami returned, they found the duo sprawled out on the couch, swearing that they weren't going to have children for at least two to three more years, which impressively they had followed through on.

Originally the Taylor's had planned on just getting a hotel room for their weekend in Dillon, but when Eric called Tim Riggins on the phone to find out if he was planning on taking part in the festivities, Tim insisted that they stay with him. When Coach protested, Tim firmly responded by saying, "I have plenty of room Coach and I won't take no for an answer."

It was hard to imagine Tim Riggins living anywhere that wasn't filthy dirty and filled with beer bottles but Matt and Julie had been there several times over the past few years and had said it was pretty impressive with four bedrooms and separate guest house.

"We're staying at Tim Riggin's house. That just seems wrong," he said, switching off the bedside lamp and laying down to face his wife.

"A guest house. Separate from the actual house," Tami corrected suggestively, "with lots of privacy."

{***}

Julie sat on the couch and twirled the little while envelope the ultrasound technician had handed her after their doctor's appointment in her hand. She wanted to be alone when she opened it, and now was a perfect time as any since Matt was in their bedroom finishing his packing for the weekend.

Julie flipped the envelope over slowly, opened it up and pulled the piece of paper out.

She put her hand over her mouth and smiled into it when she saw the words _**it's a boy **_scribbled across the page. She was overcome with emotion, and for a second she deeply regretted her insistence on needing to know and not being able to share the moment with Matt. Julie had never admitted it out loud, not even to Matt, but deep down, it was truly what she was wishing for. Sure, she hoped they were blessed enough to have a daughter too at some point (although the idea of eventually being the parent of a teenage girl was kind of terrifying with her own teen years still fresh in her mind) but there was just something about the thought of being a mother to a little boy. A son who would maybe have her nose or her lips and her love of writing or Matt's crooked smile, piercing green eyes and sensitive nature.

Julie folded the paper, shoved it back into the envelope and threw it into her purse. She looked down at her protruding stomach and whispered with a conspiratorial smile, "Hey little guy."

"Telling secrets already?" Matt asked as he emerged from the bedroom holding a small suitcase. He placed it on the floor in the hallway near the front door and came and sat down next to Julie on the couch. He put one arm around her and put his other hand on her belly. He rubbed it gently. "You know, you have an unfair advantage here. Access to our child one hundred percent of the time. How do I know you aren't brainwashing he or she into becoming a vegetarian or PETA spokesperson." He bent down so his face was level with her stomach. "It's okay to like dead pig. Really, it tastes amazing. You'll see."

She laughed and smacked his arm. "Very funny wise-ass. For your information, I was just letting our baby know what an awesome daddy it has."

"Oh I'm sure. You forgot incredibly handsome, smart and intelligent," he replied with a self-deprecating grin. Matt motioned to the end of the white envelope sticking up out of her purse on the coffee table. "So, did you look?"

She brushed her bangs out of her face, unable to wipe the smile off her face. "Yeah, I did," she said. "Are you positive you don't want to know?"

Matt shook his head no firmly. "I'm going to hold out for the big surprise. That is, if you manage to keep this to yourself for the next couple of months."

Julie raised an eyebrow. "Is that a challenge?"

Matt chuckled. "I think it is, or rather, I think it will be for you. You pretty much suck at keeping secrets Jules, which actually is one of the things I love about you."

Matt put his hand on the back Julie's neck. He pushed the hair aside and started massaging it. She moaned in appreciation and closed her eyes for a moment before saying, "I've been thinking and I've decided that I really want to have a natural birth. No drugs."

Matt stopped dead in his tracks. He stopped massaging, scratched his nose quickly and cleared his throat, one of his many nervous idiosyncrasies.

"Jules, are you sure its a good idea to put that sort of pressure on yourself?" he asked carefully.

"What? You don't think I can do it?" she said, her tone dangerously defensive.

"No Julie. It's not that I don't think you can do it, but I know you, you're stubborn and if you make a decision like that now, you're going to be determined to follow through on it despite what might be right for you at that moment. And its just...you've never had a baby before and you don't know how you're going to feel when its actually happening." He paused. Matt tried to choose his words wisely as he had learned his lesson over the past couple of months and really wanted to avoid sending his pregnant wife into a hormonal meltdown. "There's just nothing wrong with taking the pain relief if you need it, okay? It doesn't make you a failure or weak or a bad mother or anything like that."

Julie looked down and twisted her wedding band and engagement ring around her finger. They were starting get snug and she wondered if she'd eventually be too swollen to even wear them. She took a deep breath. "I know. But I also know that if I prepare myself beforehand and everything goes as planned, I won't need any of that. Its just really important to me to have your support on this."

Matt groaned inwardly knowing nothing good was going to come of that declaration, but he kissed her and smiled at her warmly anyway.

"Of course I'm going to support you," he said. "But I also don't want to see you suffer."

"It's childbirth Matt, I think the suffering is pretty much implied." She smirked and patted him on the back. "I think you're just afraid I'm going to break a few of your fingers if I squeeze your hand too hard."

"You better be nice to me or I'm not going to help you get off this couch," Matt warned her. He glanced at his watch. "We should probably get going to the airport." He knew that Julie would likely require drinks, snacks and several trips to the bathroom before boarding the plane and he didn't want them to miss their flight.

"Help please?" Julie asked extending her arms out to him.

He pretended to consider it for a moment before grabbing them and pulling her up from the couch with an exaggerated grunt.

{***}


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter Seven**_

Eric shifted awkwardly from his spot on the couch next to Tami and pushed his shirt sleeve up his arm to check the time on his watch.

Jennifer, who was holding a notebook and a pen in her lap, sat on the loveseat directly across from them. Shelley was perched on the recliner, her legs tucked underneath her haphazardly. _She even sits like a child, _Eric thought to himself as he glanced over in her direction.

He agreed to this ridiculous sit down for Tami's sake but was still stewing over the fact that he had to air his personal family laundry in front of a stranger. Growing up, Eric came from a home where nobody talked about their feelings and if there were any problems or issues, they were dealt with in private among family members, if at all. Emotions were rarely discussed or displayed. While Tami's openness and compassion were among some of the traits he loved and admired most about her personality, things he was grateful that she helped to bring out in him at times and instill in their family, this situation was not a comfortable one for him to be in. Tami, sensing his unease, slid closer to him on the couch and took his hand.

Eric peered down at his watch again impatiently and said, "We should probably get started with this since Tami and I have to catch a plane in a few hours."

"Typical," Shelley muttered under her breath.

"What's typical?" he asked in an agitated tone.

Shelley rolled her eyes. "Thinking your time is more important than anyone else on the planet. Why don't you check your watch another five times? You know the hand only moves once every sixty seconds, right?"

"Thanks Shelley, I had no idea," Eric quipped back at her. He shoved his hand in his pocket.

"I think what Shelley is trying to say," Jennifer interrupted, looking purposefully at Eric, "is that she doesn't always feel like you respect her."

"Shelley," Tami chimed in, "you know that isn't true at all."

"Of course it's true," Shelly interjected, shifting her legs from under her in the chair so they were flat on the ground. "Just because I haven't had the same career for the last twenty years, or a husband and kids and a white picket fence, doesn't mean my life is some punchline that deserves to be laughed at."

"Shel," Tami argued, "that's ridiculous."

Shelley snorted. "Your husband might as well have a second career of mocking my life choices, and you just enable him."

Tami's voice went from sympathetic and soothing to full of anger and dismay. "Excuse me?" she sputtered. "Enable him? What's that supposed to mean?"

Jennifer cleared her throat. "Lets try not to attack each other here. That's not constructive." She looked down at her notebook, almost like she was following a written guide. "Why don't we do an exercise where we all say something positive about one another. Tami, why don't you start by saying something you admire about Shelley."

Tami attempted to regain her composure. She inhaled and began to speak. "I admire my sister's warm heart. She's a wonderful aunt to my girls who adore her completely."

"I am a pretty good aunt," Shelley affirmed with a proud smile.

"And modest," Eric mumbled.

"Okay Eric," Jennifer said, "it's your turn." She smiled and motioned to Shelley. "What do you appreciate about Shelley?"

Eric Taylor glanced over at Tami with bewilderment but all she did was nod encouragingly and say, "Go on hon."

Shelley folded her arms across her chest defiantly and waited, eyebrows arched.

"Shelley is..uh...very free spirited."

Shelley threw her head back and laughed sarcastically. "Free spirited? That's the best you can do? Thanks Eric. What a nice backhanded compliment. Basically it's a politically correct way of saying I'm a flake."

"That's not true," Eric insisted.

"The bottom line here is, it's time I started standing up for myself. It's fine if you don't agree with the choices I make for my life, but I need to surround myself with people who take me seriously," Shelley said.

Eric stood up from the couch and threw his hands in the air in frustration. "This is absurd. You make it impossible to take you seriously. You float around, from city to city, boyfriend to boyfriend, job to job, and you want us to take you seriously? Try sticking with something, anything for more than a week."

"Eric, that's enough" Tami muttered, pulling him back down onto the couch. She didn't necessarily disagree with him but she knew this situation was heading to a dangerous place quickly and wanted to diffuse the situation before it got completely out of hand. Unfortunately though, it appeared that ship had sailed.

"You're damn right it's enough," Shelley yelled, rising from her chair. "I think I need some space from all this negativity." She looked over at her sister. "I'm sorry to do this to you, but I think you're going to have to take Gracie with you this weekend."

Tami's eyes went wide as Shelley stormed down the hall and moments later the sound of the door slamming echoed throughout the room.

{***}

Matt twisted the key into the front door of the Saracen home. "Come on..." he muttered under his breath, jiggering his hand strategically around the keyhole.

It had been a while since he had to actually use a key to enter the house and he forgot how stubborn the front door could be when it was locked from the inside.

After a few minutes of watching Matt play with the lock, Julie leaned her back against the porch railing. "We could go in through the window," she suggested with a teasing smile as she toyed with the beads on her necklace.

"Yeah, there's an idea," he said sarcastically, his back to her, jiggling the lock even harder now.

Moments later, the door flew open, and Matt let out a sigh of relief. He snatched their bags off the cement stoop and headed inside, Julie following right behind him.

Mrs. Saracen's ratty old blue recliner sat lonely in the middle of the living room, the house eerily quiet. This was the first time they had returned to Dillon since grandma had gone to live in the home and Julie knew it was going to be tough on Matt. When they decided to come to Dillon for the weekend she suggested that they could stay somewhere else but he had shut down that idea immediately, so she dropped it.

As the legal guardian of all her affairs, Matt made sure grandma was able to stay put in her own home for as long as possible. That had worked well with a live-in nurse for a good while, but in the past year, her health had declined considerably. As heartbreaking as it was, Matt knew it was no longer safe for her to be anywhere but a place where she could receive around the clock care with medical professionals who could properly treat her. He also knew he would eventually have to let go of the house too, but he didn't have the heart to do it while grandma was still alive.

Julie sank into the shabby couch and patted the cushion next to her. Matt plopped down and wrapped his arm around her. She snuggled up against his shoulder, just like they had done a million times before on this same couch as teenagers. The couple sat there silently for a while until Julie finally looked up at him with concern.

"You okay?" she asked softly, brushing her palm across his thigh.

"Yeah. It's just weird, you know?" He put his hand on top of hers and shifted his green eyes to look up at her sullenly. "I just feel like I betrayed her or something."

"I know it feels wrong, but you did what was best for her. The right thing isn't always the easy thing." Julie reminded him, picking up his hand and entwining her fingers in his. "I know its hard and its okay to be sad but I don't want you to think you have anything to be guilty about," she said.

He nodded his head in a tentative way that said, _thank you for trying to make me feel better but I don't really believe you._

Julie's eyes darted around the dingy living room at the pictures of Matt from various stages of his life that littered the walls. He really was the center of his grandma's universe.

"She's going to be so excited to see you tomorrow," Julie said brightly, attempting to steer the conversation in a more positive direction. "I even brought our latest ultrasound picture so she can see her great-grandchild."

"If she even remembers me or the fact that we're having a baby," Matt commented quietly, his eyes fixed on the carpet.

They sat there in silence for a little bit longer until Julie turned to Matt on the couch and said, "I don't know about you, but I'm pretty hungry."

The left side of Matt's mouth began to stretch into a small half smile. "What else is new?" he responded with a playful smirk.

"That's real nice, thanks." She elbowed him in the ribs. "Seriously though, I'm thinking I could really go for a good old Alamo Freeze shake."

Matt nodded and rose from the couch. "I'll call Landry."


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter Eight**_

"So let me get this straight," Landry said, popping an onion ring into his mouth. He pointed an index finger at Julie, "You know if you're having a boy or a girl," and then at Matt, "but you don't?"

Matt nodded in confirmation as Julie lifted the Styrofoam cup containing her chocolate Swizzler and clenched her teeth around the straw.

"Mhmmm," she murmured blissfully. "I forgot how good these things are."

Landry leaned over the table and stage whispered to Julie, "You're going to tell Uncle Landry though, right?"

"No she's not going to tell you, you idiot," Matt replied, answering for Julie who was still busy consuming her milkshake. He picked up his burger, took a healthy bite and then directed his attention back to Landry's smirking face. "Also, referring to yourself in the third person as 'Uncle Landry' before the kid is born just sounds outright creepy," he added, swiping Julie's Swizzler off the table and taking a long gulp.

"Hey!" Julie exclaimed in protest, swatting his arm and snatching the cup out of his hand. "Have you not learned anything about stealing food from a pregnant lady?"

Matt flashed Julie an affectionate grin. "Want some of my burger?" He picked it up and held it in front of her face.

Julie pushed his outstretched hand away and bunched up her freckled nose in disgust. "You're never going to let me live it down are you?" she asked with a mix of amusement and shame on her face.

"Live what down?" Landry inquired.

She tossed her hands up in the air and rolled her eyes at her husband. "Matt caught me eating dead cow a few months ago and he thinks its funny to tease me about it."

Landry looked at Julie with shock. "You? Dead Cow? Really?"

Julie groaned. "It was a pregnancy craving. Completely out of my control." She glanced at Matt. "Your child wanted it."

A month and half ago Matt had come home from work early and caught her eating a Big Mac. She rarely ever ate fast food, much less any sort of meat, or "flesh" as she liked to call it, but when she passed the McDonald's on her way home from an interview, the craving was more intense than anything she had ever experienced before. The craving was especially odd, because at that point in her pregnancy she could barely stomach anything other than plain bagels and ginger ale, which is what she pretty much lived on exclusively for the first couple of months. Before she knew it, she was headed home, greasy paper bag in hand. Julie knew her time was limited and that she had to eat fast and hide the evidence. Just as she took her first bite, she heard the sound of the key turning in the lock. Panicked, she frantically shoved the burger back in the bag, but it was too late. The second Matt entered the the apartment, he had sniffed the air, heavy with grease and meat and said with a gleeful grin, "Are you eating a burger?"

"You're totally having a boy!" Landry said, taking a sip of his root beer float. "I read somewhere that if the mother is craving meat, it means she's having a boy."

Matt snorted. "You read it somewhere?"

Landry sneered at Matt. "I was in the doctor's office the other day and all they had to read while I was waiting was Parenting magazine. There was some funny little blurb on it. Apparently if you crave citrus it means you're having a girl."

Julie giggled. "Parenting magazine? You still going to your pediatrician Landry?"

"She sees adults also," he muttered.

The trio was sitting at what used to be their regular table by the window at the Alamo Freeze, eating, chatting and watching the rusty pick-up trucks and SUV's pull in and out of the parking lot. It felt good to just sit and banter and laugh like old times. Julie turned her head towards the front of the restaurant and looked wistfully at the young teenaged boy helping customers behind the counter. He was decked out in Alamo Freeze whites and a red apron with the little white paper hat to match. Something about him looked familiar, but that could have just been because he reminded her of Matt a little bit.

It really hadn't been that long, but it seemed like forever since Julie's biggest problem was passing an algebra exam or getting her parents to agree to let her stay out a half hour past her usual curfew. At seventeen years old she often felt like the weight of the world was on her shoulders, but that now seemed pretty laughable given her current adult responsibilities. It still hadn't completely sunk in that she was about to be somebody's mother and she suspected it probably wouldn't completely hit her until she was holding that baby boy in her arms.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of rap music blaring out the windows of a a huge black Range Rover with flashy twenty inch rims that had just pulled into the parking lot.

"What the..." Landry craned his neck to see who was causing all the ruckus. "Who in Dillon drives a Range Rover?"

Matt laughed knowingly. "I'll tell you who. Smash Williams."

Sure enough, Brian Smash Williams hopped out of the drivers seat and strolled through the front doors of the Alamo Freeze, his little sister Noannie in tow. Minus the fancy car, the two carat diamond stud in his ear and the blinged out cross around his neck, he was still the same old Smash. He and Matt were always an odd couple, an unlikely friendship, but they had miraculously remained close over the years. Smash had been a groomsman at their wedding and had bought several of Matt's paintings at his first big art show. Matt was also there (with Coach Taylor of course) when he started in his first NFL game for the Seattle Seahawks.

When Smash caught sight of his friends, he took a wad of money out of his wallet and handed it to Noannie before sauntering over to their table.

"You know what the Smash wants," he told her, beaming a megawatt grin. Noannie rolled her eyes. "I'm not your servant Brian," she huffed, but turned her heel to order the food anyway.

"Matty baby!" Smash shouted as Matt rose from his chair to give his friend a hug and a hearty back pat.

He leaned over to peck Julie on the cheek and claimed the one empty seat at the table.

"How's it going Lando?" he asked, extending his hand to give Landry a firm handshake.

Landry accepted the handshake and noticed the diamond encrusted pinky ring on his hand. "That's some ring Smash," he commented.

Smash shrugged. "It ain't no thing. Just a little bling."

Julie and Matt chuckled a little at the little inadvertent rap, but the wheels in Landry's head were spinning. "Hey," he said, looking at Smash thoughtfully. "I remember you were always into the rapping thing. Maybe you and I should collaborate. A little mash-up. Part rap, part rock. Could be the next big thing."

Smash shook his head and slapped Landry on the shoulder. "I think I'm gonna stick to the football thing dude, but thanks."

He chatted with his friends for a few more minutes until his food was ready and then bid them goodbye. "Tomorrow, after the game, I'm having a party at my house on the lake. You all be there." Smash pointed straight at Landry. "Especially you. It's gonna be like a rap video. Champagne. Ladies. A hot tub. A grown man's paradise. You might even get lucky," he said with a wink.

{***}

"Gracie girl, you need to sit still," Tami ordered her youngest daughter who was bouncing up and down in her airplane seat with reckless abandon. The couple in front of them had already turned around with several scathing looks and there was still another two hours of their flight to go.

"Are we there yet?" Gracie whined.

"Soon," Tami promised with a sigh. She looked over at her husband who was slumped over in his window seat sleeping. "Convenient," she muttered to herself.

Tami handed Gracie one of her puzzle books. "If you're real good for the rest of the flight, we'll take you for a nice big ice cream sundae when we get to Texas."

It was extremely unlike her to resort to bribery, but she wasn't exactly prepared to bring Gracie on this trip, so her resources and patience were limited. After the blow-up between Eric and Shelley, Tami had somewhat managed to smooth things over with her sister, but they both decided it was probably best if she didn't babysit for them that weekend.

"I don't know how to do this puzzle," Gracie whimpered. "It's too haaaaaaaaard."

Tami patted her leg. "Just try honey."

"I don't want to," she wailed.

The woman in front of them turned around with yet another nasty glare.

Exasperated, Tami bent down, pretending to get something out of their carry-on bag, shoving Eric's leg forcefully out of the way in the process.

The action jolted him awake. "What happened?" he mumbled sleepily.

Tami smiled at him brightly. "Oh you're awake hon. I'm so glad. Now you can entertain Gracie. She's real bored."


	9. Chapter 9

_**Chapter 9**_

"Gracie Belle Taylor," Eric gruffly said through gritted teeth, "you need to stop kicking the seat in front of you." He reached for the collar of her shirt and gently tugged her backward for what seemed like the tenth time in the past five minutes.

Gracie, although much more high energy than her big sister was at her age, was usually exceptionally well behaved, especially out in public places, but today she was in rare form. When they told her she was coming on the trip with them she seemed excited but that excitement quickly dissolved when she was faced with the reality of sitting in a plane seat for a few hours with little to distract her. Gracie had only been on a few flights in her life, but Tami always made sure they were well prepared with snacks, toys, games and books. On this occasion though, they had only enough time to quickly pack a bag for her and dash to the airport to make their flight.

Eric turned to Tami, his voice projecting the dangerous tone he used when he was about to completely lose his patience. "How much longer till we land?" he asked.

Tami placed the book she was trying to read in her lap and glanced over at Gracie forlornly who was now untying her shoelaces. "About thirty minutes hon."

"I don't understand why she's acting like this."

"Well maybe it has to do with the fact that we ripped her out of her routine and put her on an airplane with barely a moment's notice."

"And that's my fault I suppose?" Eric asked defensively as Gracie stretched out her now shoeless left foot and kicked the chair in front of her again. He threw his hands up in frustration and shook his head.

Tami leaned into the aisle and gave the passengers sitting in front of them a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry," she drawled apologetically. "So sorry. Can I buy y'all some wine?"

{***}

"Matt! Julie!" Gracie screeched, barreling through the baggage claim ahead of Eric and Tami and towards her big sister and brother-in-law.

Matt scooped Gracie up and held his hand out for a high five which she provided with enthusiasm. She then threw her little arms around her big sister's neck so they could exchange hugs and kisses.

Julie noticed the weary looks on her parent's faces as they trudged through the airport holding their bags. She knew they were originally supposed to be leaving Gracie in Aunt Shelley's care and that there was a "last minute change of plans" but none of the details as to why.

"Hey Monkey Noodle," Eric said in greeting, tenderly planting a kiss on the top of his oldest daughter's head. He then moved over to say hello to his son-in-law with a handshake and back pat.

As Matt lowered Gracie onto the ground, Coach crouched down so he was at Gracie's eye level and said, "You remember what Mama and Daddy's bag looks like, right?" Gracie nodded emphatically. He pointed a finger over at the baggage carousel a few feet away from them. "Do you think you can do an important job and keep a lookout over there and let me know when you see them?" he asked.

Gracie nodded again before running off, her long pigtails bobbing up and down.

Eric sighed heavily and shook his head. He took off his hat and gave his scalp a hearty scratch.

"Tough flight?" Matt asked.

"Nothing a glass of scotch and an early bedtime for Gracie can't fix."

Matt chuckled, looking over at his little sister-in-law who was now standing expectantly by the baggage claim.

"Don't laugh son," Coach cautioned. "This is going to be you soon. Speaking of which, how is Julie doing?"

"The first few months were tough but she's been feeling pretty good lately." Matt glanced over at his wife who was engaged in what appeared to be an intimate conversation with his mother-in-law. "I do have to watch what I say though. Those hormones are no joke, and they seem to strike at the most random times."

Coach placed a hand on Matt's back and leaned in. "Let me tell you something. Take it from someone who's been through it twice. That last month is pretty much hell. Just gotta take it like a man." He looked at Matt who was staring at him with raised eyebrows. "Remember this, during that time, everything she says is right, whether its right or not. Get me?"

{***}

Tami pulled her daughter into a tight embrace and Julie held on to the hug for an extra-long moment. As much as her independent-self hated to admit it, she was missing her mom more and more these days. Sure, she had friends in Chicago, but nobody replaces your mother, especially during a time of major life changes. She found herself picking up the phone more and more these days and she suspected that would only increase once the baby was born.

When the hug broke apart, Tami stood back and gave her daughter the full once-over. "Look at you..." she commented quietly as if she couldn't believe it. _Her baby was having a baby. _While Matt and Julie were still on the young side (although older than she and Eric were when they had Julie) she was glad they had waited until they were done with school and settled in their careers before starting a family. Still, Julie would always be her first baby, her little girl, and she was beginning to feel the same sort of emotional pangs that she had when they got married three years ago.

Julie pulled her mom to the side and took a quick look behind her to make sure Matt wasn't within earshot. He was busy chatting with her dad so she leaned in close and lowered her voice. "It's a boy. We're having a son," she said proudly.

Tami's face broke out into a surprised smile. She threw her arms around Julie once again and kissed her on the cheek. "That's wonderful honey. Your dad is going to be over the moon. He loves his girls obviously, but I think he's going to be so thrilled to have a grandson."

Julie nodded and grinned back. "I'm sure he'll have quite the collection of footballs before he can even pick one up himself."

"He sure will," Tami agreed as she shifted her tote bag on her arm. "When did you find out?"

"I found out today, right before we left for the airport to come here. Matt didn't want to know and I promised him that you and dad would be the only ones I told."

"Jules, you really think you'll be able to keep this from Matt?" Tami asked. "You know you've got another 5 months to go, right?"

Julie rolled her eyes. "Why does everyone think I'm incapable of keeping this to myself?"

Tami suppressed a smile and changed the subject. "How are you feeling hon?"

"Pretty good," Julie admitted. "I'm not bone crushingly exhausted or nauseous anymore, but I'm starting to feel kind of huge though."

Tami laughed and slung her arm around her daughter's shoulders as they walked to the exit. "Oh honey, you haven't seen anything yet."


	10. Chapter 10

_**Chapter 10  
**_

Julie twisted around in the passenger seat of the rental car to face her dad who was sitting alone in the back. They were parked in the lot outside of Ray's BBQ waiting for Tami, Matt and Gracie who had gone inside to pick up some food for dinner to bring over to Tim's, giving her the perfect opportunity to tell him the news.

"How's it going kiddo?" Eric asked, pressing his body forward against the leather of the front seat and reaching out to give her shoulder a squeeze.

"I have something to show you actually," she answered, digging around in the large leather purse sitting on her lap. Eventually, Julie pulled a small square piece of white photo paper out and extended it to him.

He took it in his hand, staring down and squinting at it for a minute before realizing what it was.

"That," Julie said, stretching her arm out and tapping the outline of the little human on the ultrasound picture he was holding, "is your grandson."

Eric looked up from the photo, a wide grin on his face and then fixed his eyes on it again. "My what?"

He had clearly heard her the first time, but she figured her dad just wanted her to repeat the happy news, so she obliged him.

"It's a boy," Julie confirmed with a wide grin of her own.

Eric handed the ultrasound photo back to Julie, letting out a joyful chuckle. "Now how are you going to tell me that in a car when I can't give you proper congratulations?" he asked.

She laughed as he opened the door and stepped out of the car and motioned for her to do the same. When they were both standing on the pavement outside, he reached his arms around her and hugged her tightly. "Congratulations kid," he mumbled into her hair.

"Congratulations to you too grandpa," Julie replied pulling back and leaning up against the car. The sun was just beginning to go down and the sky was streaked with purple and pink, a true Texas sunset. She closed her eyes for a minute and let the warm breeze hit her in the face.

"Jules, you know that kid is going to have football in his blood right?" Eric said with a proud smile still firmly planted on his lips.

"Yes...football," she sighed tracing a line with her black chucks in the dirt and rolled her eyes a little. "But also art and writing and…"

"Stubbornness," Eric interrupted, and they both erupted into a fit of laughter.

After the laughter died down, father and daughter stood there for a moment beaming at each other and then Julie turned so she was facing her dad, her tone now serious.

"This is important dad," she said, "You can't mention the sex of the baby around Matt. He doesn't know."

Eric looked at her like she was crazy. "What do you mean he doesn't know?"

"He didn't want to. He wants to wait until the baby is born, and be surprised, so we compromised, just like you told us we should in marriage." Julie's eyes twinkled at him teasingly.

"Compromise yes. A very important thing," he responded slowly, "but about something like this? Maybe I'm old school but I always thought that..."

Julie gently elbowed him in the ribs as a sign to shut up as Matt and Tami exited the BBQ joint arms full of bags of food with Gracie trailing behind them.

He shook his head at Julie and ruffled her hair. "Okay Monkey Noodle, whatever you say. My lips are sealed," he assured her.

{***}

Tim had just given the Taylor's the grand tour and as Matt and Julie had promised, the house was as impressive on the inside as it was on the outside. It was incredibly hard to believe that Tim Riggins, he who formerly lived in a ranch full of beer cans, cutouts of naked women, and just complete filth in general, now inhabited a home that looked like it belonged in an editorial spread in Town and Country magazine. Upon opening his fridge in the search for some condiments though, Tami was strangely comforted to see that all he had in there was a 24 pack of beer, a jar of pickles, a half-eaten burger and a large container of ketchup. Some things really did never change.

"Tim, I can't believe this house! Did you do all the decorating yourself?" Tami asked, her eyes wide, looking out into the spacious living room from where she and Julie were setting up dinner in the equally as expansive open dining area.

"Thanks Mrs. Taylor," Tim said sheepishly, shoving his hands in the back pockets of his torn jeans. "I did have a little female assistance. Mindy and Becky were a huge help with that stuff."

"Well, it looks just fantastic," Tami said encouragingly. She knew that Tim didn't have parents to praise him for turning his life around and even though many miles separated them these days, she and Eric still saw Tim as a part of their family and she wanted him to know that he had done good.

"Definitely a labor of love," Tim admitted, shuffling his cowboy boots against the hardwood floor. "It took forever to finish, especially with Billy as my right hand man, but it was worth the wait."

Tim glanced over at Coach who was sitting on the couch with Matt beside him and tilted his head towards the mahogany bar across from the dining room table. "Scotch?" he proposed.

Coach Taylor nodded enthusiastically and then looked up at the wooden beams on the ceiling, admiring the workmanship. "I'm pretty impressed you and Billy managed to do this all on your own."

Tim reached for a couple of old-fashioned glasses out of the hutch on top of the bar. He set them down and began to pour some scotch into three of them. He let out a hearty laugh as the amber liquid flowed out of the bottle. "If it was just me and Billy on the job, this house would probably still be a shell and a few planks of wood. I called in a few favors with some of my contractor buddies at that construction company I was working at, you know, before I started the business."

He lifted two of the glasses, handing one to Matt and one to Coach Taylor.

"Cheers," Tim said as the three men knocked their glasses together.

Julie watched Matt sip the scotch cautiously from across the room. Matt had never been a fan of the hard liquor but he always forced it down when it was offered in the presence of her dad, almost as if he was trying to earn his respect in some strange way. It was one of the many things that made him so endearing to her, but sad at the same time. While their relationship was in a good place, she wished her dad was a bit more expressive and nurturing towards Matt sometimes.

"Okay y'all!" Tami clapped her hands together. "Time for dinner!"

Once everyone was seated at the table and eating, Coach Taylor noticed a big juicy rib sitting on the top of Julie's plate.

"Jules is that dead pig on your plate there on purpose?" he asked with a smirk cutting off a piece of brisket and shoveling it in his mouth.

Julie looked down in horror pretending to be disgusted, when really she was just busted.

"Uh…I must have taken it by mistake," she stuttered, picking it up like it was radioactive waste and flicking it on to Matt's plate. Matt bit his lip in an effort not to laugh and stared at the wall.

"I thought for a second you finally got some sense, especially now," Coach Taylor teased his daughter.

Julie narrowed her eyes. "That's real funny dad." She drilled her fork into her salad. "You're acting like my son is going to be born with a third eyeball because I'm not feasting on dead animals."

Her hands flew to her mouth the second she realized what she had done.

"You guys are having a son?" Tim asked smiling widely.

Julie looked at Matt who was sitting next to her with a stunned look on his face."I…uh….oh my god…Matt I'm so sorry,"

After a minute of awkward silence, Matt finally laughed."Julie, I completely expected you to blow it, but not this quickly." He looked at his watch. "Seven hours. You had a good run."


	11. Chapter 11

_**Chapter 11**_

Once Gracie was sound asleep on the couch in the small living area of the guest house, Eric quietly tiptoed across the floor towards the bedroom where he and Tami were staying. He paused outside the door to make sure Gracie's apparent slumber wasn't a false alarm. On nights where he put her to sleep at home, he'd creep out of her room after checking under the bed for monsters (a nightly ritual) and reading several stories until she dozed off. Often he would think he was victorious at putting her to sleep, but then would hear a sleepy little voice as he quietly walked down the hall moments later saying, "Daddy, where are you going?" and would have to repeat the process all over again.

After a good thirty seconds of silence he reached for the doorknob and twisted it gingerly, stepping into the room and closing it behind him like a silent ninja.

"You owe me twenty bucks," he told Tami, holding out his hand with a wicked smile. "You said Julie would blow it within twenty four hours and I said twelve, so I win."

Tami laughed and bent down to rifle through the suitcase sitting at her feet. "We never agreed on any over under conditions, so I think I might have to disagree with that."

Eric plopped down next to her, crossed his arms across his chest and chuckled. "You're a sore loser, you know that?"

"Honey! I am not!" she squealed and then covered her mouth, suddenly realizing Gracie was asleep in the next room. She lowered her voice an octave. "Fine, you win."

Eric nodded smugly and nuzzled his nose into her neck. "That's right baby."

"But I'm not giving you twenty bucks."

"This is the second bad bet you've made this month," he scolded her. "Two weeks ago, you bet me ten dollars I couldn't get Gracie to do her math homework without an argument. You lost that one too but never paid up."

"That's because you bribed her with an extra hour of television," Tami reminded him and then immediately laughed at his shocked expression. She put a hand on his face and caressed it. "Come on babe, you don't think eight year olds are good at keeping secrets, do you? Hell, even our twenty four year old isn't."

She paused for a minute and smiled at him naughtily. "We're bad people aren't we? Betting on something like that?"

Eric playfully nudged his wife with his shoulder. "Stop changing the subject and pay up."

"Well considering we share a joint bank account, I think me paying up would just be a little silly, wouldn't it sugar?"

"Next time bet something else then," he replied raising his eyebrows suggestively. "Something you can actually deliver on."

Tami scooted closer to him on the bed and touched her forehead to his. "You're subtle," she teased. "What are you thinking honey? We've got a little girl sleeping right outside that door."

"You're right, we do. Soundly sleeping like a rock. You know, being a terror all day can really tire a little girl out."

"God, she was a terror today, wasn't she?"

"She sure was. In fact, I think we might be blacklisted from ever flying the friendly skies ever again."

"If only they knew what an angel she usually is," Tami quipped, causing both of them to laugh hysterically at as low of a volume they could manage.

He smiled at her adoringly. "I like you, you know that?"

She giggled. "I like you too hon. You're alright."

Their eyes met and within seconds they were lunging for each other at the same time, lips meeting lips. Once they fell horizontal on the bed facing one another, Eric gripped Tami's dress and pulled it off in one fluid motion.

"I like when you wear dresses," he mumbled into her neck. "Easy access."

As he smoothed his hands over her body, she returned the favor, tugging his polo shirt up over his head. When she reached down to pull off her cowboy boots, he stilled her hands and pulled them back up and around him.

"Keep them on," he growled into her ear.

{***}

Julie held the steering wheel and stared straight out the dashboard at the dark road stretching ahead of her. She was finding it uncomfortable to navigate the car on pitch black roads that she hadn't driven on in years. Matt and Julie owned a car in Chicago but rarely felt need the use it since their condo was so conveniently located right in the middle of the city. When necessary, Matt normally did the driving, but after watching him down a glass of scotch and a few beers over the course of the evening at the Riggins house, Julie had insisted Matt hand over the keys to her prior to their departure.

Matt sat up straight in the passenger seat and motioned to the road. "Hey Jules, I know we haven't been here in a while but you should have turned right there."

"I was thinking we could drive past my old house," Julie said flicking back on the brights as a car passed them in the other direction. "Is that okay?"

He nodded and settled back down into his seat. Matt hadn't said much at all since dinner and she wondered if his nonchalant reaction to her revelation was just for public consumption and that he was actually really angry at her.

Julie pulled up to the curb of the former Taylor home and slowed the car to a stop. After putting it in park and turning off the lights, she reached into Matt's lap where his hand was resting and slipped it into hers.

"Matty I'm sorry," she said guiltily. "I know you're upset with me, and you have every right to be. Finding out myself and not telling you was just a silly, ridiculous idea."

He looked down at his shoes, refusing to make eye contact with her. "Julie, I'm fine. It's fine. I'm not angry at you, okay?"

She tipped his chin up with her free hand and his eyes met hers finally. "You won't even look at me. You've barely said one word to me all night. Clearly you're upset."

"I'm not upset…" he trailed off.

"Then what?" she asked, squeezing his hand. It felt warm and clammy in hers.

"I'm just…" he shrugged and looked at her uncomfortably, "a little freaked out."

"Why?"

His lips parted as he tried to find the right words. He focused his eyes down at the floor again before he said, "I'm just scared of screwing up. I'm scared of being a father who's a disappointment to my son, just like mine was to me."

Julie looked at Matt with a sympathetic smile. "Do you remember the day I found out I was pregnant?"

He nodded, smiling faintly at the memory. They had agreed to start trying a month earlier and neither of them expected it to happen so quickly. Matt had come home from work one night to Julie handing him a small white box with a red bow on it. Inside it was a positive pregnancy test. His first reaction, after breaking out into that wide uncontrollable grin of his, was to ask her "really?" about ten times, to which she confirmed, yes, they were going to really have a baby.

She rested her elbow on the steering wheel. "You have no idea how terrified I was. Actually, I still kind of am. The only thing that keeps me from completely freaking out though, is knowing that we're in this together and that our son is going to have the most amazing father in the world."

His posture loosened and he laughed a little. "You're my wife. You have to say that."

Julie shook her head a smile playing across her lips. "Maybe, but its true." She rubbed his fingers with hers. "As long as you're there and you love him, there's no way you could be a disappointment as a father."

Matt leaned over and kissed her. "Thank you," he whispered looking into her eyes. "A son huh? How about that."


	12. Chapter 12

_**Chapter 12**_

Tami clutched Eric's arm as they waded through the lively crowd that was gathered in the large outdoor area in the back of Buddy's Bar & Grill. The music from a local country band performing on a makeshift stage blared out of the portable speakers. Players, coaches, boosters and their families, a sea of blue and gold, stood around eating barbeque and drinking beer, conversations no doubt focused exclusively on Dillon Panther football.

It was like they had stepped into a time capsule and were transported to a place where nothing ever changed no matter how many years went by. Just like the "rivalry week" gathering at the Coach's house, a barbeque to open the season was a Panther tradition and something Buddy was always proud to host, of course with the minor exception of the Joe McCoy years.

Tami noticed Eric's jaw clench as they approached a group of boosters lingering in a tight little circle around Buddy like a king on his throne. She knew he always hated being a slave to these men who during his years as head coach of the Dillon Panthers, had absolutely no reservations about having their opinions heard by any means possible. To them, the time or the place never mattered, whether it was a family dinner at Applebee's, in line at the supermarket, or through a ringing phone late on a Thursday night when they had a baby sleeping in the next room. However, as unfair and indecent as it seemed sometimes, the livelihood of their family depended on keeping these people happy or at least satiated into thinking their suggestions were being taken into consideration. Over the years it became almost like second nature to put up with it, a sad but true reality of life as a football coach in a small Texas town.

Despite all that, and since they moved to Philadelphia, Tami suspected that Eric missed the intense town spirit and dedication. He was well respected at Pemberton as not only a coach but a teacher too, and his main concern was being there to guide those kids, but she could tell that the lack of local enthusiasm for the team sometimes really bothered him.

Buddy, spotting them in the crowd, began waving them over furiously.

"Let's get this over with," Eric muttered into Tami's ear. He slid his arm around her waist and steered her towards Buddy and his crew.

{***}

"Noah! Knock it off!" Jason Street yelled, as his older son scooped a handful of dirt and threw it at his little brother. He rolled his eyes and shook his head at Matt who was sitting beside him. "You ready to have one of these?" he asked with a smirk.

The left side of Matt's mouth turned up into a half smile as he watched the two brothers chase each other up and down the grass. He leaned back against his chair and let out a deep breath. "Ready or not, I think I'm going to find out."

"These little rascals should really come with an instruction manual," Jason said jokingly. He placed a hand on Matt's back and grinned. "Figuring it out is all part of the fun though."

Matt took a sip out the red cup he was gripping in his hand. "What's it like having a son?"

"It's like having the best little buddy you could imagine," Jason replied with a grin. "I know it sounds cheesy as hell, but being a dad is most incredible thing in the world."

Matt nodded thoughtfully but didn't say anything. Jason could tell from the way he was sitting, shoulders slumped and his head tilted slightly down, that he was feeling unsure of himself. It was body language he was familiar with from his years of coaching Matt Saracen.

Jason put the beer he was holding down on the picnic table. "Why do you look so nervous Saracen?"

Matt shrugged. "I guess it's just starting to get real now that I know we're having a boy. We only have a few months to go, and I guess I've just been so concerned and preoccupied with making sure Julie's okay, that up until this point I haven't really thought much about the fact that I've never done this before."

"You never played first string quarterback for Dillon before, and you figured that out," Jason reminded him. "I mean, you did have an amazing assistant coach, but the hard work was all you."

Matt suppressed a smile. "Well thanks, but I feel silly comparing winning a football championship to being responsible for not screwing up a human life."

"You're going to be a great dad," Jason said reassuringly. He motioned to Julie who stood a few feet away talking to his wife Erin. "You and Jules have been at this a while now. You love each other, you support each other, you respect each other. You've had the chance to build a strong relationship. When Erin and I had Noah, we barely knew each other. We were still pretty much teenagers and we managed to figure it out." He caught Erin's eye and waved. She smiled and waved back. "Just remember, you're a team."

Matt laughed, silently grateful for the pep talk. "Thanks Oprah."

Jason pulled his iPhone out of his pocket and scrolled through the pictures for a minute. He smiled and handed the phone to Matt. "Look at that," he instructed.

On the screen was a picture of him holding his youngest son, Carter, as a newborn. "Now how could you be scared of something so tiny?" he asked.

"You do have a point Street," Matt replied. "Although I do hear the lungs on those little things can be pretty intense." He slipped the phone back into Jason's hand. "But I guess nothing two full grown adults can't handle, right?"

Jason chuckled and picked up his beer. "Now that's the spirit Saracen."

Matt raked a hand through his hair and relaxed back into the plastic patio chair. He smiled softly as he watched Julie's hand absentmindedly rub her belly.

{***}

"Son of a gun," Buddy shouted loud enough for the entire state of Texas to hear. "If it isn't Coach Eric Taylor, in the flesh."

"Live and in color," Eric responded extending his arm for a handshake which Buddy ignored, pulling him into an aggressive bear hug.

Tami stood to the side uncomfortably. "Hello gentlemen," she drawled sweetly to the group of men as they solemnly nodded their acknowledgement of her.

Buddy stepped forward taking Tami's hand and pressing a kiss into it. "Tami Taylor, we've missed your spunk around here," he said, giving her a toothy grin. He leaned in and whispered, "And to tell you the truth, the last Coach's wife was a real eyesore."

Tami's eyes widened and she giggled nervously, shifting towards Eric and firmly hooking her arm back into his elbow.

"Tami, Eric, I want you both to meet someone real special." Buddy turned and tapped the arm of a young woman who was engaged in a conversation with the rest of the booster wives.

Annabelle stood at about 5'9, and was extremely thin with the exception of her very obviously surgically enhanced chest area. Her bleach blonde hair was perfectly coiffed, likely with an entire can of Aqua Net, and she wore a dress that left very little to the imagination. The kicker however, was that the woman didn't look like she could have been a day over thirty.


	13. Chapter 13

_**Chapter 13**_

"It's sick," Tami hissed. "She could be his daughter."

Shortly after introductions and hellos were exchanged, Annabelle had given Tami the lowdown on the love story between her and Buddy and she had just finished relaying the details to Eric.

Annabelle was a dancer at the Landing Strip that Buddy had taken a special liking to. Her parents pretty much out of the picture, she initially started stripping to put herself through community college but got caught up in the allure of the money and male attention and dropped out halfway through. She credited Buddy with helping her get her life together and out of the Landing Strip by giving her a job as a waitress at his bar.

"She said they fell in love," Tami scoffed. "What she really meant to say is that she fell in love with his money and that he's just a too much of dirty old man to care."

Eric had to smile at her outrage. She was real cute when she was fired up about something.

"Honey, how are you laughing right now?" Tami pulled a glass of white wine off a tray that a waiter was carrying around and took a lengthy sip. She raised her eyebrows and looked at him for a response.

He shrugged his shoulders. "He's happy, she's legal. What more do you want me to say about it?" Eric smiled and waved at a familiar face in the crowd.

"Do you realize that in about five years, our daughter will be thirty years old? How would you feel if our daughter was dating Buddy Garrity?"

Eric laughed. "Did you really just say that sentence out loud?"

"You don't think it's wildly inappropriate?" Tami asked.

Eric knew this was a trick question. If he disagreed with her and defended Buddy he'd get attacked. If he agreed, she'd accuse him of patronizing her. He deliberated what to say for a minute. He finally decided on what he thought was a safe, "I think it doesn't involve us or our family, and they're consenting adults, so it's none of our business."

Tami shook her head in disgust. "I wonder what Lyla thinks about this. That poor girl has dealt with enough of her father's antics over the years."

"Well she is studying to become a lawyer, so at least we know she'll convince him of the need for a prenuptial agreement should he and his lady love ever make it official." He put an arm around her shoulder. "Why don't we go find our darling daughter Gracie?" he suggested. "I'm sure she's off causing trouble somewhere."

{***}

Julie scanned the crowd in search of Matt and spotted him sitting at a table in the distance, talking and laughing with Landry and Riggins. Normally she would have left him alone to catch up with the guys, but she had already been accosted by several booster ladies, one of whom took it upon herself to put her hands on Julie's stomach and to refer to her unborn child as "the quarterback in her belly." It had taken all her willpower not to rip that woman's hands off of her and make a snarky comment. Maybe she'd been gone from small town America for too long or maybe it was just the mama bear in her coming out, but in her book, it was totally awkward and unacceptable to touch someone you barely knew like that.

Julie approached the table where the guys were sitting and carefully slid into Matt's lap. As he protectively circled his arms around her, she eyed the collection of scattered beer bottles and red cups littering the ground next to them and sighed as she leaned back against Matt's warm chest.

"God, what I would do for a nice cold beer right now," she said longingly.

Landry extended his bottle to her. "Want to sniff it? Maybe that will help curb the craving a little bit."

She snorted. "Yeah Landry, I'm sure that would do the trick just great."

"Beer and bacon," Matt said proudly, "our son is shaping up to be a real man's man."

"Beer and bacon," Tim repeated with a grin, "just like God and Texas intended."

"Well it's a good thing we live in Chicago then," Julie replied teasingly.

Tim chuckled. "Fair enough. You better bring that little guy back to Texas to visit though." He looked at Matt. "You've got to show seven junior where you threw all those sixty yard bombs back in the day."

Julie laughed and pushed her sunglasses up on top of her head. "Seven junior?"

Matt grinned and kissed her neck. "I like that, I think we should put that on the short list of baby names."

"Along with Landry obviously," Landry chimed in.

"Sorry man, I don't think that's happening," Matt informed him. "Maybe our second kid."

Julie twisted her head around abruptly to look at Matt in disbelief. "Excuse me?" she said. "Our second? You need to calm down there Mr. Matthew. Let's see how the first one goes."

Matt put up his hands up in front of his face as if to shield himself. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry," he said, a smile dancing in his lips.

"Who is that?" Landry asked, noticing and pointing out the buxom blonde standing next to Buddy.

Tim smirked. "Buddy's girlfriend."

Landry's choked on his sip of beer. "Excuse me? You're kidding right?"

Tim shook his head. "I kid you not Lando. She's a stripper turned waitress at Buddy's turned trophy girlfriend."

Julie wrinkled up her nose. "She looks like shes my age."

"Not too far off," Tim confirmed.

Landry turned to Matt. "If I don't meet a girl in Austin, I may off myself. I'm just letting you know now."


	14. Chapter 14

**_Authors_ Note: **Sorry for the lag in between chapters. Feeling inspired again so hopefully the next one will come out a lot quicker. Thanks for reading! Reviews valued and greatly appreciated :)**_  
_**

**_Chapter 14_**

Coach Eric Taylor stood outside the Panther field house, his hands shoved in the pockets of his khaki shorts. It was ten minutes till the start of the state championship ring ceremony to be immediately followed by the kickoff and first game of the season. Hermann Field was buzzing with the energy and excitement only a high school football stadium in the state of Texas could bring on a humid Friday night at the end of August.

Eric's Dillon Panthers championship ring was nestled on the ring finger of his right hand, the expectation he wear it made clear by a voice mail Buddy had left him with a "Don't forget that state ring Eric!" the night before they flew to Texas. It felt strange to slide it on his finger after years of sitting in a corner of the bottom drawer of one of Tami's old jewelry boxes. Frankly, he never thought he'd ever have a reason to put it on again unlike the East Dillon Lion's state ring he still sported on his finger to this very day. He wore it not only to feel that comforting connection to Texas, the place he still viewed as their true home even after settling into life on the East Coast, but also as a reminder that it was possible to build something incredible from scratch, sometimes in the unlikeliest of places.

As for the Dillon Panthers, it took years, but he could honestly say that he had made his peace with the past. Maybe enough time had gone by and maybe it was even the distance, but despite the bitterness that accompanied his unjust firing after his third season with the team, there was no denying how special that first state championship was. He never envisioned the tragedy, pressures, and adversity he'd have to face his first year as a head coach. He would always remember the way his boys stepped up and pushed through it all, especially since a few of those boys still in his life had become men he was extremely proud of.

Buddy pulled up in front of the field house in his behemoth black SUV and greeted Eric with an enthusiastic wave. The first football game of the season was like his grown-up version of Christmas morning.

"Come on!" Buddy shouted as he hopped out of his car and waved Eric over. "I want to introduce you to the the coach."

William Jamison had been the the quarterback coach over at Arnett Meade for the past four years. When Buddy's plan for stealing the head coach over at West Cambria fell through, they went after the young Arnett Meade coach and made him an offer he couldn't refuse. Eric didn't know much about him except that they came from similar backgrounds. Coach Jamison had been a personal quarterback coach to a young phenom that boosters and scouts alike were already comparing to Jason Street and JD McCoy, who had just happened to move into the Dillon Panthers education district a few months before school started. His name was Brett Anderson and Eric had met him briefly at the barbeque and had heard his name mentioned more times than he could count from the chattering boosters and parents. He seemed like a good kid from what Eric could tell and prayed that this town wouldn't ruin him.

Once they were inside the building, Buddy hustled Eric quickly through the locker room and yanked the door to Coach Jamison's office open.

"Shouldn't we knock?" Eric muttered under his breath as Buddy put a hand on his shoulder and shoved him inside.

"Billy, I want to introduce you to Coach Eric Taylor," Buddy announced excitedly.

Coach Jamison looked up from his playbook. He placed it on the desk and stood up to shake Eric's hand. The office still looked pretty empty. There were a few knickknacks scattered on the desk but the majority of the Coach's belongings still sat stacked in a brown box on the floor. Eric didn't blame him for not getting too comfortable right away.

"Coach Taylor, it's a pleasure to meet you. You're a legend around here in Dillon you know," Coach Jamison said.

Eric laughed, a little embarrassed. Compliments always made him mildly uncomfortable, especially from strangers. He cleared his throat. "Well I don't know about that, but thank you. It's nice to meet you too. Good luck. Y'all go get em' tonight!"

Coach Jamison adjusted the blue Panther hat sitting on the top of his head. "Any advice you could be so kind to pass on?"

He looked at the young coach, the stress and nervousness written all over his face and glanced over at Buddy who was now outside the office busy talking up another booster who had wandered into the field house.

Eric leaned in and looked Coach Jamison in the eyes. "You just worry about that game and don't let them get in your head." He shook his hand again and turned to leave. Eric grabbed the knob to the door and turned back around. "After all Coach," he said with a grin, "It's only football."

{***}

"This is so fun!" Tami exclaimed brightly passing a small box of popcorn over to Gracie who was seated between herself and Julie.

Julie giggled and rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah mom, it's a real blast. I'm five months pregnant sitting on uncomfortable metal bleachers watching a high school football game in ninety three degree heat." She reached back to pull her long blonde hair into a messy bun on top of her head and fanned herself dramatically with her hand.

"Well you're fortunate you aren't a football wife then," Tami said. "I remember being at one of your dad's games back when he was just an assistant quarterback coach and the wife of the head coach's water broke at halftime."

Julie shook her head in disbelief. "That's completely insane. I should probably consider myself lucky my birthday fell in the off season, otherwise I probably would have been born in the back of a locker room somewhere."

"Oh honey," Tami said knowingly, "It really has nothing to do with football. It's about supporting your spouse. What if you were extremely pregnant but otherwise healthy and Matt had some huge art show. Wouldn't you be there for him if you could?"

Julie looked at her mom thoughtfully as she grabbed a handful of popcorn out of the box on Gracie's lap and tossed it into her mouth. "Okay, point taken. I would want to be there for him, although Matt would probably be the one to beg me not to leave the house in that situation. He's so protective and it's starting to drive me a little crazy."

"Cut him some slack Jules. He worries about you because he loves you," Tami reminded her softly.

"I know he does, and I love him for that, but sometimes its just a little much. The other day he forced me to dump out my cereal because the milk I put in it was one day away from it's expiration date. He was convinced it was going to somehow poison me."

"Well maybe that's a tad extreme," Tami agreed with a laugh, "but I think based on the way he takes care of you, he's going to be a great dad."

"I wish you guys lived closer," Julie said smiling at her mom sadly. She loved the fact that she and Matt had built their own life out in Chicago but with a baby coming she was finding herself missing her parents and wishing they lived closer to family.

"We'll try to visit as much as we can," Tami promised giving her older daughter's shoulder a squeeze, "you know once that little one is born pictures and Skype dates just aren't going to cut it."

{***}

A photographer from Sports Illustrated that was doing a profile on Smash for the next issue had been lurking around the Panthers sideline where Matt, Smash, Tim and Street were congregated waiting for the festivities to start.

"Mind if I get a shot of your and your buddies?" he asked Smash holding his camera up.

"What do you say fellas?" Smash asked, his megawatt grin taking over his features, "you ready for your fifteen minutes of fame?"

"I have news for you Williams. I've actually been in Sports Illustrated like seven times already, so this really isn't that exciting," Tim cracked as the guys gathered around and smiled for the flashing camera.

When the photographer was done snapping his shots, Matt pointed up into the crowd and elbowed Riggins in the side.

"Check that out," he said pointing to a busty brunette in the third row of bleachers. "That girl is holding up a sign with your name on it but I can't make out what it says."

Street wheeled himself closer to the fence separating them from the stands and squinted. "It says...Tim Riggins...have..my...baby."

Tim rolled his eyes but there was a small smirk dancing on his lips.

"Timmy Riggins," Street chided, "still driving the ladies crazy."

Smash put an arm around Tim. "I've got lots of eligible fine women coming to this party later. You better bring your A game."

Tim looked down at the ground. "I'm all good Williams."

Matt grinned. "What does that mean Riggs?"

"It means," Street explained, "that Tim's got a secret girlfriend."


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

The game, a real nail biter, was won by the Panthers in the last thirty seconds of the fourth quarter. The rookie quarterback as it turns out, remained solid and focused under the pressure and brought the Panthers to a dramatic victory with a beautiful game ending pass. As the team celebrated on the field, Matt and Julie trailed towards the parking lot behind Coach, Mrs. Taylor and Gracie.

Matt grabbed Julie's hand in his. "You feel up to going to Smash's thing for bit?" he asked.

Matt figured Smash's soiree would be a glorified high school football party attended by a mix of current Panthers and local alumni, scantily clad women and lots of booze. While none of those things particularly appealed to him, (well maybe except for the booze, he could definitely use a drink) he figured it might be a good idea to blow off some steam. He was so perpetually stressed out these days between all the balls he was juggling at the gallery in order to prove himself worthy of a promotion, dealing with his grandmothers declining health and finding the time (while he still had it) to focus on his own artwork. He knew in a few months all his priorities would change and while he couldn't be more happy and excited, the uncertainty of how he'd handle it all sat like a brick in his gut.

Julie paused to cover her mouth as a yawn escaped. "I'm exhausted, but you should go without me and have some fun with the guys. Who knows the next time you'll all be in the same place again." She rested a hand on her stomach. "Not to mention, I don't really think I should expose junior here to the sort of things that go on at Smash's parties, even on the inside,"

Matt laughed. "It's really not that important Jules, I just thought it might be fun. We can go back home and take it easy."

"It's totally fine," Julie insisted. "Seriously," she said, sensing his hesitance. "You should go."

He eyed her suspiciously. "Is this some sort of test?"

Julie looked at him with confusion. "What do you mean a test?"

"You know, one of those times when I'm supposed to know you want me to come home with you even though you're saying otherwise? Sort of like the one time I had to miss that one baby doctor appointment because of something at work, and even though you repeatedly told me it was fine and that I shouldn't reschedule it, I got the silent treatment for two days." Matt nudged her playfully. "Remember that?"

"I said I was sorry and admitted that I overreacted. Hormones remember?"

"When do I get to use the excuse of hormones for irrational behavior?"

"When you carry a human inside of you for nine months and then endure hours of excruciating pain before pushing it out of your body. How does that sound?"

Matt wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her towards him. "Like it makes perfect sense," he replied, planting a soft kiss on her lips. "You sure you don't mind if I go?"

"Not at all. Besides, I don't need to feel worse about myself right now after seeing whatever bikini models Smash has over at the Playboy Mansion of Dillon." She pulled back from within his arms and pointed a finger at him. "But so help me god if any pictures surface of you in a hot tub with anyone. If you thought teenage girl anger was bad, that's nothing compared to pregnant wife anger."

Matt rolled his eyes. "Come on Julie. Do you really think I'd even one of those Smash groupies a second look? That's insulting."

"Oh Matt, lighten up will you? This is exactly the reason why you need to have some fun." She motioned towards her parents who were standing a few feet ahead of them catching up with Coach Crowley and his wife. "I'll take this opportunity to spend a few hours with the folks. It'll limit the amount of quality time you have to spend with my dad for the rest of the weekend."

Matt pretended to be amused at her joke, but the truth was, for once, he wasn't trying to avoid his father in law. For all the unwanted talks they'd had over the years, he was actually hoping Coach would approach him and provide him with some sort of advice or reassurance that he'd be a good father. As much as Coach Taylor terrified him at times, he was the father he both wished he had and wanted to be to his own son.

His arms still circled around her, Julie leaned in and reached for Matt's shirt collar. She pulled him close. "But, before you go, I wouldn't mind waiting around for everyone to leave, and once the lights are out," she pointed to the bleachers, "going under there for a little fun." She grabbed Matt's backside and squeezed it.

He jumped ten feet in the air and looked in every direction frantically. "Are you crazy?" he hissed. "Your dad is right over there."

Julie turned her head to see her dad still engrossed in conversation. "You married me and I'm carrying your child. I'd say the jig is up at this point. Besides, he's not looking over here, so stop being so paranoid."

Marriage clearly didn't make Matt any less neurotic when it came to Coach Taylor and anything that implied that he was sleeping with his daughter and he doubted it ever would, but Julie had been in rare form lately and he couldn't say he wasn't enjoying every second of it.

Matt slowly shook his head at Julie in disbelief. "What's gotten into you?" he whispered, a playful smile on his face. "The coat closet at that party last week? The dressing room at Bloomingdale's...and...that...thing we did in the shower last night?" he began to blush just thinking about it.

His eyes darted nervously to the bleachers and then back at Julie who was grinning at him conspiratorially.

{***}

"Y'all made it!" Smash exclaimed with a wide smile as he pulled open the heavy wooden door to his lake house. His silk robe hung open exposing his swim trunks and he held a can of beer in his free hand. Behind him, the house was packed to the brim with party guests, clearly favoring a beautiful female to male ratio.

Matt turned to Landry as they entered into the throes of the party. "I feel like I just crossed the threshold into 2006."

Landry's eyes darted around the room. "I hope not," he said. "I wasn't exactly getting laid back then."

"Or now," Matt retorted.

"That was a low blow," Landry said shooting him a fake hurt look. "Besides, how often are you getting any these days? I hear pregnancy can be a real sex life killer."

Matt's face turned bright red thinking about what he and Julie had just done an hour ago under the bleachers.

"Don't you worry about my sex life," he muttered making his way over to a large cooler and grabbing two beers out of it. He cracked them both open and handed one to Landry.

"So you are getting some?" Landry asked.

Matt took a swig of his beer. "I'm not talking to you about the details of my sex life but lets just say things have been more active than ever."

Landry raised his beer can and tapped it against Matt's. "I stand corrected. Good for you."

"Let's go find Tim," Matt said, scanning the packed room.

"I think he's over there talking to some girl." Landry pointed to the left corner of the living room where Tim had his arms wrapped around a brunette wearing a sundress and cowboy boots. She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him.

Matt's mouth hung open. "Hold on a second...is that...Lyla?"


End file.
